A Magnet for Trouble
by protossfire
Summary: Summary: Naruto, 19 years old, is only two weeks away from becoming the Sixth Hokage, assuming everything goes smoothly. There's just one problem; Naruto's always been a magnet for trouble. And it seems he's passed that trait down to his team.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Naruto's only two weeks away from becoming Hokage, assuming everything goes smoothly. There's just one problem; Naruto's always been a magnet for trouble. And it seems he's passed that trait down to his team.

A/N  
>Translations are at the bottom if you see a word you don't know! Enjoy :D<p>

"Sensei? What are we doing?" asked Hanabi.

Naruto glanced back at his little Chunin team. They were all 14, and had all made Chunin as rookies. Hanabi, the girl, was Hinata's little sister. She was an extremely talented Jyuken user, even for a Hyuuga. She was also the heir to the Hyuuga clan.

"Gathering intelligence." Naruto said with a grin.

"So...spying." Ken said. Ken was an Inuzuka; Kiba's cousin. He looked almost exactly like Kiba, tall, with short brown spiky hair. He had tanned skin, and the two fang marks on his cheeks that marked him as an Inuzuka. Just a year ago Ken's dog, Chamaru, had been able to sit on Ken's head. Now Chamaru weighed over 80 pounds, and was taller than Hanabi when he stood.

"Exactly." Naruto confirmed over his shoulder.

"Who we spying on, Sensei?" Ryuu asked. Ryuu was an orphan, like Naruto, who'd grown up alone. His name literally meant 'Dragon'.

"Shhhh. You'll see." Naruto had a grin fixated in place. "Come on. Stay close and be quiet."

With that, Naruto jumped on top of the nearest roof, his team following. They quietly crept across the roof, following Naruto closely. Naruto stopped three-fourths of the way across the roof, and knelt down. He got on all fours and crawled the rest of the way, stopping with his head right at the edge of the roof.

Peering over, the team could see Suigetsu and Karin down below. Karin had one leg behind the other, tapping her toes on the ground nervously. Suigetsu was fidgeting, his hands in his pockets, and his sword swung over his back.

Naruto tried not to snigger as he saw the light blush on their cheeks. They appeared to be about to go separate ways, as Suigetsu gave a small awkward wave. Karin suddenly jumped forward, throwing her arms around Suigetsu's neck and kissing him.

Karin stayed in that position, shocked, as Suigetsu literally turned into water. He crashed down around her feet, soaking her shoes and socks.

"BHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto's loud voice filled the air as he laughed hysterically.

Karin's face turned completely red as she looked up to see Naruto rolling around on the roof, laughing. Suigetsu retook human shape next to her feet on the ground, his face completely red.

Naruto caught a glimpse of Karin's face, stood up, and started backing up, still laughing.

Naruto's team scrambled behind him, backing away quickly. Suigetsu and Karin both jumped up to the roof, looking livid.

Naruto and his team were backing up, and Naruto was holding up his hands in the universal _Whoa Nelly _gesture.

The chunin were trying to hold in their laughter, but failing. In their defense, Naruto's laughter was _really _contagious.

Karin held up her fist. "Na-ru-to. I'm going to _kill you!" _

Naruto gasped for air around his laughter. "He...he..._soaked_ your socks!" Naruto burst out into even more laughter, causing the chunin behind him to lose control and laugh too.

Karin jumped forward into a dash, a murderous look on her face. There was a yellow flash as Naruto disappeared.

The chunin watched as Karin continued raging forward.

Chamaru whined.

"Oh crap._" _Ryuu said.

"RUN!" Hanabi yelled.

The three chunin, plus the ninken, turned and ran for their lives.

xxxx

Naruto opened the door to the bar, eager to find a familiar face. The truth is, Naruto is almost as bad a gossip as Ino, especially when it comes to his friends.

"Sweet! Hey Shika, hey Chouji!" Naruto called, walking over to sit on the stool next to Shikamaru.

This bar had become the favorite for the members of the Konoha 12. If they needed a drink after a day of hard work, this is usually where they gathered.

"Yo Naruto." Shikamaru answered. Chouji waved a hand, busy stuffing his face.

"You'll never believe what I just saw." Naruto said chuckling.

The sound of the door opening distracted him. Looking over he saw Hinata entering.

"Hey Hinata! Over here!" Naruto said, patting the stool next to him.

Shikamaru looked over Naruto's shoulder. Hinata was walking over to them, blushing slightly. Shikamaru was also a little surprised to see that the back of Naruto's neck was red, too.

He leaned over to Chouji. "How long do you think it'll be before he actually asks her out?" He whispered.

"_She _might have to ask _him _out." Chouji whispered back, laughing slightly. Shikamaru grinned, till he saw Naruto looking at them.

"You know I can hear you, right?" He asked, disgruntled.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Shikamaru said, taking a sip of his beer.

"Well, anyway, like I was saying-"

The door opened again, distracting Naruto.

"Hey! Teme! You interrupted my story!" Naruto shouted.

"Don't start at me already, dobe, I haven't even had my beer yet." Sasuke responded, exasperated.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just sit down already, this will definitely interest you." Hinata managed not to squeak as Sasuke sat next to her. She was still a little scared of him, but at least Naruto was here.

"So anyway," Naruto continued, "I was returning from a mission with my team when I sensed Suigetsu and Karin's chakra nearby. I could also tell that they were both nervous, so I decided to take a peek."

"Your ability to sense emotions has become _way _too good since you combined chakras with the Kyuubi." Shikamaru said, disgruntled.

"Shhhh." Chouji said, wanting to hear the rest of the story.

"So I told my team we were gathering intelligence-" Shikamaru snorted. "-And jumped up on the roof over where they were. I got up there right in time to see Karin jump forward and kiss Water Boy!"

"About time." The other four chorused.

"Get this though. Water boy was so startled that he _literally _turned into water. I mean, I've heard the phrase about turning into a puddle after being kissed. But I've never seen it actually happen before!" Naruto exclaimed, laughing.

Sasuke snorted, taking a swig of the beer the bartender had just dropped in front of him.

"So of course I busted out laughing. Then Karin and Suigetsu jump up on the roof, pissed as hell."

Hinata giggled.

"Karin threatened to kill me, and started rushing towards me. So I flashed away, and hid nearby to watch. I'm not sure what was funnier; the look on my student's faces when they saw that I'd abandoned them, or the look on their faces when they realized Karin was still charging like an angry rhino."

They busted out laughing, even Sasuke grinned. Messing with your young students was a favorite pass-time for all sensei.

"What'd they do?" Chouji asked, once he'd stopped laughing.

Naruto snorted. "The only thing you can do in that situation; cuss and run like hell!"

Hinata paused in her laughter, remembering that Hanabi was one of Naruto's students.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata said reprovingly, "Are you telling me that you left my sister alone with an angry Karin?"

"Errr no, no Hinata-chan." Naruto said, paling and backing away a little and waving his hands. "I made sure they got away safely before I left."

"Good."

Shikamaru mimed a whipping motion behind Naruto's back, where Hinata could see. She blushed and turned back to the bar.

_A short while later_

"Hey Hinata, can I ask you for a favor?" Naruto asked.

"S-Sure Naruto-kun."

"Can you teach my team about genjutsu tommorow?"

"Isn't that your job, dobe?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, yeah...but I don't really know much about genjutsu. I never paid attention at the academy...and never really learned much about it afterwards."

Technically that wasn't true. He had forced Jiraiya to give him a lesson on genjutsu immediately after his first encounter with Itachi.

"Besides, Hinata's smart and she was the student of Kurenai-sensei herself!" Naruto finished.

"Then why don't you just ask Kurenai, dobe?" Sasuke asked.

Shikamaru face-palmed. Sasuke was more clueless than Naruto sometimes.

"No it's okay, I'll teach them Naruto-kun." Hinata said. "As long as you take my genin in return."

"Sure thing! Thanks Hinata!" Naruto said, blushing slightly. "So I'll bring my team to your training area tommorow?"

Hinata nodded. "What time?"

"I dunno...eight?" Naruto asked.

"Okay." Hinata nodded. That was when practice normally started anyway.

The door slammed open. Karin stalked inside, her face flushing red when she saw Naruto. "I've been looking for you!"

Naruto grinned, scratching the back of his neck. "Hey cuz!"

"DON'T HEY CUZ ME YOU BLONDE MAGGOT!"

"I'll see you guys later." Naruto said, scrambling to his feet. Karin stomped forward, stopping with a sound of frustration as Naruto disappeared in a flash of yellow.

"Argh!" Karin looked at the four jonin at the bar. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." They chorused immediately, wiping the smiles off their faces.

"Hmph." Karin turned around and stomped back out, slamming the door again on her way out.

xxxx

"Errr, so you guys have only been genin for a month or so, right?" Naruto asked.

The three kids nodded, staring in awe at him. The legendary Uzamaki Naruto, the savior of the village, hero of the Fourth Shinobi World War, and the future Rokudaime Hokage.

"Hmmm...okay. If I'm going to teach you guys I need to know what you can do." Naruto jumped back a little. "I want you three to come at me with the intent to kill."

"You want us to try to kill you, sensei?" The first boy asked.

"Yeah. Start now." Naruto said.

"What if we hurt you, though?" The second boy asked.

"If you can manage to hurt me then I deserve to get hurt. Now come on." Naruto said impatiently.

xxxx

"Well...let's see. Your taijutsu and ninjutsu are both acceptable for now. But your stamina is seriously lacking."

The genin's faces fell just a little bit.

"No worries though, I know just how to deal with that." Naruto said with glee.

"I'll be right back." He disappeared in a yellow flash, appearing where Hinata was teaching his team.

"Hey, Hinata!"

"Eep!" The chunin tried not to laugh at the sound Hinata made as Naruto appeared beside her.

"I'm taking your genin to train with Lee. Which means we'll probably be doing laps around the village if you need me."

"O-okay Naruto-kun." Hinata said, recovering from her surprise. "Just try to return them alive."

The chunin laughed. "I think I'm _still_ sore from our first lesson with Lee!" Ryuu said with glee.

"No kidding." Laughed Ken.

"Thank god someone else is getting tortured for once." Hanabi smirked.

Naruto grinned in anticipation. He waved his hand, and disappeared in a yellow flash of chakra.

Hinata returned back to the young chunin. "Okay like I was saying..."

xxxx

The sounds of a tree being struck repeatedly echoed throughout the forest.

"Lee!" Naruto called.

The sounds stopped. Lee ran out of the clearing to meet them. "Naruto-kun! Who might these youthful young sprouts be?"

"I'm not a tree." The first boy said.

"They're Hinata's new genin team." Naruto responded.

"OH! Hinata-chan's students. They must be very youthful indeed."

The genin looked confused.

"Oh yes." Naruto grinned wickedly. "In fact, they are so youthful that they challenged us to laps around the village."

"Wait..what?" The second boy asked.

"YOSH!" Lee cried. "Most youthful indeed! The first one to drop out treats the rest of us to ramen! I should warn you, Naruto-kun and myself can eat a lot of ramen."

"A _Lot _of ramen." Naruto echoed.

The three genin looked terrified.

xxxx

_He may be the savior of the village. He might be the next Hokage. But he's also clinically, unavoidably insane. _

By now the young genin's legs had stopped burning. The sore, burning feeling had been replaced by rocks. As if their muscles had shriveled up and died in their legs, compressing into dense deposits of minerals.

_Just keep moving, just keep moving. _

The genin concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, determined not to lose all their savings over something so stupid as training.

"Sensei! Naruto-sensei!" Naruto looked up quickly, towards the sound of the voice. Ken was dashing through the woods, looking panicked.

Naruto felt his heart go cold. With a single dash he was in front of Ken. "Ken, look at me. What is it? What happened?"

"I'm sorry sensei it just happened so fast I don't know I didn't see-"

Naruto shook his shoulders. "Slow down, slow down it's going to be alright. Just tell me what happened." He said calmly.

"We split up into pairs to practice, I was with Hinata-sensei, and Ryuu and Hanabi were practicing a little ways away. One minute everything was fine. Then I looked up again, and Ryuu was lying on the ground, knocked unconscious."

"Sensei, they took Hanabi!"

xxxx

Translations: Jyuken : Gentle-Fist, a form of martial arts

Rokudaime : Sixth

Ninken: Ninja-dog

Kyuubi: Nine-tailed demon fox contained within Naruto

A/N I used my writer's license and decided that in 3 years Naruto will probably be so fast that he'll be able to flash around really quickly without actually using Hirashin. Especially since he's already that fast in the manga when he uses the Kyuubi's chakra.

Please please review, and I hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N

First, I forgot to say this last chapter, but I don't own Naruto.

Second, this chapter is not going to be funny. Next chapter will, but not this one. It gets a little gory/violent up ahead, so skip that part if you want. But it's not too bad.

Also, I completely pulled Hinata's new ability out of my ass. It's not really realistic, but it was cool so I went with it.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 2 **

Hanabi still remembered the first time Naruto had introduced himself as their new sensei. She had been unconvinced. _This is the guy who defeated Neji? This is the guy who saved the village? This is the guy who saved the world in the Fourth Shinobi World War? _Initially, Naruto had just struck her as a loud, happy, hyper blonde. Cheerful, but scatter-brained.

But he also had a certain aura about him. He had that way of subconsciously drawing the eyes of everyone in the room when he entered. People would shut up when he talked, even if he was saying something stupid.

It hadn't been until their first C-rank mission that Hanabi had seen how dangerous Naruto could really be. They had been escorting a caravan down a mountain pass when cries filled the air. On either side of the pass, bandits had come running down the slope.

The smiling, joking Naruto-sensei Hanabi had known had disappeared. He had quietly given orders, issuing them quickly and confidently. Each order was followed immediately, without hesitation. Each genin had protected a side of the caravan, even though there wasn't much to protect from. Naruto had taken out most of the bandits by himself, before they could even reach the caravan.

When she'd turned her Byakugan he'd lit up like a second sun, so bright that she'd instinctively averted her eyes.

Afterwards Naruto had scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "I meant to let you guys fight more of them, to get some combat experience." He laughed. "I guess I got protective and went a little overboard."

Hanabi had never made the mistake of underestimating him again.

She squirmed against the ropes uselessly, frustrated that she couldn't reach her chakra. She fought down the rising panic.

_Please hurry, Sensei!_

xxxx

_10 minutes earlier_

Hinata looked around quickly, searching for Hanabi's chakra signature. _There_. She finally found it, almost at the edge of her Byakugan's range. Hinata tried to force down the rising panic.

She turned to Ken. "Go get Naruto. Now." Her voice was sharp, layered with anxiety and tension. Ken moved immediately.

She focused her chakra into her fists. She pictured the shape she wanted, willing it into existence. It started with two lion heads on the ends of her fists. Then the body followed, resulting in a fully sized two-headed lion standing in front of her, made purely of chakra.

She quickly hopped onto its back, and yelled "Go!"

xxxx

"Hinata-sensei went after them but..." Ken said.

"Who's them?" Naruto interrupted.

"Shinobi. That's all Hinata-sensei could figure out before she left. Then she sent me to come find you."

"Okay. Lee, find Neji and Hokage-sama and tell them both everything." Lee dashed off. "The rest of you are dismissed."

With that Naruto's chakra suddenly flared, and he had a yellow cloak of chakra around him. Ken knew that this meant he was using the Kyuubi's chakra.

Naruto closed his eyes and searched for Hinata's familiar chakra. It took him longer than he would've liked, but he found it, anxiety pouring off of her in waves. Beyond her he felt the same anxiety from Hanabi.

There was a yellow flash of chakra, and then he was off, streaking through the woods.

xxxx

The lion sped through the woods. It's true that ninja can travel extremely fast by augmenting their jumps with chakra, but Hinata's lion was faster.

She examined the enemy shinobi as she started catching up to Hanabi's chakra signature. There were 10 of them, and judging by their smooth chakra coils and large reserves, experienced chunin to high jonin.

_Not good. _

But it didn't matter. She needed to slow them down, or stop them, as soon as possible. It would be very bad if they reached the border.

The 10 shinobi were spread out in a line, in groups of two. Hanabi was in the second group of two. That meant there were probably sensor types at the front and rear of the column. Sure enough, the last two split off at that moment, waiting for her.

_That means they probably have some kind of delaying mechanism. I need to be careful._

Hinata was rapidly approaching the two Jonin. With her Byakugan she could see that one of them was chewing something in his mouth. Right as she approached the clearing he spat out a giant web.

Quickly she directed the lion left, avoiding the web. She dismounted with a back flip, landing neatly on a tree branch. She willed the lion to focus on the Shinobi with the webs, and gave it a simple command, "Attack."

The lion wouldn't stand much of a chance without her directing it, but it would buy her some time. She sprang towards the ninja on the left, who drew a kunai.

They circled each other warily. He sneered when he saw her Byakugan. "Another Hyuuga, huh? How cute. Now we can get two Byakugans instead of one."

Hinata chose not to respond. She danced forward, dodging his kunai strike. Quickly, she struck him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. His back hit a tree, and she dashed forward to finish him off.

He swung downwards wildly with his kunai, and Hinata knocked it out of his hand. She didn't see his companion's approach until it was almost too late. Quickly she grabbed the first guy's jacket, and spun around, placing his body in front of hers just in time to take his companions kunai in the chest.

The second man stared in shock, then met her eyes over his companion's shoulder. "You killed Cato you little _bitch!" _His eyes turned mad with anger as Cato dropped to the ground, lifeless.

Hinata decided not to point out that it had been, in fact, _him _who had killed Cato.

Quickly, Hinata tried to back away to create space, only to have her back hit the tree. The man lunged forward, stabbing. She leaped to the side just in time for the kunai to stick in the tree. She jumped away as the man ripped the kunai out of tree, turning to face her.

She waited until he was just the right distance away, then spun, releasing chakra from all over her body. "Kaiten!"

The spinning chakra picked up the unfortunate ninja and threw him headfirst into a nearby tree. There was an audible _snap_ as his neck broke.

Hinata glanced at the limp bodies on the ground, the taste of bile entering her mouth. _What a waste. _A plaintive growl brought her attention to where her chakra lion was completely ensnared.

The lion hung a couple feet in the air, looking at her, trapped between four large webs. The lion's heads had bitten through all the web it could get at, leaving a hole in the thick webbing through which it stared at her. It almost seemed to be asking her, "_You planning on doing something or should I just hang here?"_

Hinata examined the thick webbing, trying to decide the best way to free the lion. After a moment, she decided that there was no way to quickly free the lion without breaking it's chakra flow, and thus dispersing the lion.

Walking forward, Hinata stuck her hands through the hole the lion had bitten through. She stuck her fists onto the side of the lion, and sucked the chakra back into her body. The only risk with this was that if she did it too quickly she risked chakra overflow, and if she did it too slowly the lion might dispel before she collected the chakra.

But it worked perfectly this time, and feeling slightly jittery at the amount of chakra in her body, she quickly focused and created the lion for the second time.

Hopping on its back, she commanded it forward urgently. _I've wasted too much time already._

The lion knelt low to the ground, and sped through the forest, kicking up leaves with the wind from its passage.

Within a few minutes Hinata had almost caught up to the group of ninja. They were still traveling in pairs of two. Hinata directed the lion up into the trees, where it began to leap from limb to limb. If she was lucky, they wouldn't notice her presence, and she could take out the closest pair before they even knew she was there.

No such luck. There was an exclamation from the front of the column, and Hinata felt her heart drop as the ninja in front halted.

They gathered together in a small clearing, eight ninja turning to look at her. At the same time, the leader dropped down to the forest floor carrying a bundle on his shoulder, which he set down in front of him. He twisted the bundle to face her.

Hinata felt her throat catch as she recognized Hanabi. The girl was wrapped almost completely in rope up to her neck. A chakra sealing note was stuck to her forehead.

Hinata met Hanabi's eyes. Emotions flashed in the younger girl's eyes. First hope and relief when she saw Hinata, which quickly turned into confusion. That melted into terror as she realized that Hinata was alone. Then her eyes finally settled into despair, and her head sunk down into her chest.

Hanabi knew that Hinata couldn't take all these Ninja herself. _It doesn't matter. I just have to stall till Naruto gets here. _Hinata thought.

The man holding Hanabi was tall, probably 6'4 at least. He had spiky black hair, shining with sweat. He had a black eye patch over his left eye, and a short, prickly beard. His forehead protector was wrapped around his bicep, and Hinata noticed that it had a line through the cloud symbol. _A missing-nin then._

His smile was wicked, more of a leer than a smile, and his right eye pierced her, roaming her body as if evaluating cattle.

The leader laughed. "Well, well...what do we have here? Another Hyuuga? Come to rescue your relative perhaps?" The leader laughed again. "And all by yourself too...I must say that strikes me as a very poor decision." He said the last part with a very mocking tone.

"I didn't ask." Hinata retorted sharply. The ninja in the trees laughed.

"Well I suppose we can skip the pleasantries." The man said, smile never faltering. "I'll tell you your options from here. One, you can change your mind and try to run, in which case my men capture you, and we take two Hyuuga to Kumo. Two, you can try to fight us. In which case, I'll kill your sister right here, and then take you to Kumo instead."

_If they're missing-nin then why are they returning to Kumo?_

His grin widened. "Or the final option; you can come willingly, in which case you'll both live to see another day. And in return I'll go out of my way to make sure none of my men get too...friendly on our journey." The men in the trees laughed wickedly.

Hinata considered spitting at the man, but decided against it.

"What happens if I take the fourth option?" She asked.

"The fourth option?" The man asked, still smiling, still playing his game.

"Yeah. What happens if I stay right here?" She asked, pointing down to the branch she was standing on.

xxxx

Naruto had to forcibly restrain himself from going any faster. After all, it wouldn't do Hinata or Hanabi any good if he smashed himself into a pulp against a tree.

He had been monitoring the chase the only way he could; through Hinata's emotions. He could sense the other's emotions too, but it was harder. He had noticed two of the shinobi split off to stall Hinata. He had felt relief when he felt the two shinobi vanish. Then he had felt Hinata's disgust, something he was all too familiar with.

He had sensed her fear when the eight ninja had stopped, confront her. He had sensed the turmoil of emotions from Hanabi, and the slight despair Hinata had felt in response. Then the emotions had stopped as she gathered her resolve.

Then Naruto felt her relief as he entered the Byakugan's range. _Hold on Hinata I'm almost there!_

xxxx

The men in the trees laughed.

The man grinned. "Why, that's easy. We capture you and take you with us, of course."

"Hmmm, I doubt that." Hinata stated.

"Yeah? Why's that?" The man said smiling.

"Sir!" One of the men shouted from above. "Uh-"

"Because there's a new player in this game." Hinata said. A second later, Naruto appeared beside her on the branch in a flash of yellow.

Naruto was wearing a black jacket, navy blue pants that stopped at his ankles, and his black sandals.

He tied his forehead protector tighter, surveying the situation quickly, then stared down at the leader. "You. Release the girl. Then maybe I'll let you and your men live." His voice was deep, deadly and serious.

The man barked a laugh, and then pulled out a kunai which he held against Hanabi's throat. "How about you turn around and return to your little village, or I kill the girl here."

Naruto snorted. "Wrong answer. I suppose I should've just listened to Kurama in the first place. He's been trying to tell me-"

The temperature suddenly seemed to drop drastically. Hinata shivered when Naruto's voice changed as the Kyuubi's voice mixed and joined with Naruto's voice.

"_**The only unforgivable sin in the eyes of an Alpha-" **_

Naruto was emitting so much chakra the air was actually starting to change color. It was tinged red, and the air became stifling and heavy.

"_**Is attacking their pack...**_"

A massive killing intent froze everyone in their tracks. If it'd been directed at her Hinata probably would've hurled. Hanabi immediately passed out, caught right in the crossfire.

"_**And the punishment is death!**_"

In that second Naruto appeared on the ground, grasping the leader's wrist in his right hand. With his left hand he punched the man, crushing his face like a soda can and sending him flying backwards.

Naruto appeared back up on the branch and handed Hanabi's unmoving form to Hinata. Hinata took her quickly, and laid her at her feet, the branch beginning to bow a little under the weight of three people.

Naruto called upon even more of the Kyuubi's chakra, making sure to keep some of it inside his body. Slowly he could feel his nails elongating into long, thick claws, his hair lengthening, his whisker marks deepening.

"_**Hinata, don't watch.**_" He growled softly.

Hinata ignored that. If Naruto was going to kill all these ninja, the least she could do was watch. A true kunoichi wouldn't look away.

So she kept her Byakugan on, kneeling to release Hanabi, watching as Naruto appeared behind the first ninja in the trees.

With a swift jerk of his hands he had broken the man's neck. The second ninja was young, barely older than Naruto. Naruto head-butted him viciously, breaking his nose, and leaving him dazed and in shock in a tree.

With a single swipe of his claws Naruto disemboweled the third man, leaving the man to watch as his life literally slid through his hands.

The other ninja started to unfreeze, and began to try to run. Not a single one of them made it more than 10 yards. Hinata forced herself to watch as the ninja were ruthlessly slaughtered, one after the other.

Naruto walked back over to the Leader, who was dying, unable to breathe properly. His face looked like a grapefruit that had been smashed with a baseball bat. He ripped the man's throat out with a swipe of his claws, ending the man's misery. Then he shook his hands, sending blood flying. He released the Kurama's chakra, feeling the power recede.

Naruto felt an itch in his hands as the claws receded, the weight taken off his neck as the extra hair fell to the ground. A sharp pain on his cheek accompanied the closing of his scars.

He jumped back up to the branch Hinata was kneeling on.

Hinata met his sad, blue eyes. "I told you not to watch." He said softly. He had of course, felt her horror, felt her sorrow as he slaughtered the ninja like cattle.

"You left one." She said softly, ignoring his comment.

"I know." Naruto said, stripping off his jacket, leaving him in a white undershirt. His sleeves were covered in gore up to the elbows, and his jacket was ruined. He tried to swipe off some of the blood on his hands and wrists with the inside of the jacket, then tossed it aside.

Hinata picked Hanabi up in her arms, bridal style. They didn't say anything else the entire way back to the village.

xxxx

Neji met them at the gate, cool, as always. He glanced at Naruto's bloody hands, impassive. Then he offered to carry Hanabi.

Hinata shook her head, keeping Hanabi in her arms.

"Neji." Naruto said, his voice serious. "Tell Hokage-sama that there are 9 bodies northeast of the village. If they have a sensor ninja, the ANBU won't have any trouble finding the scene."

_Because the Kyuubi's chakra is still hanging heavily in the air. _The words remained unspoken.

Technically, Naruto wasn't the Hokage yet, so Neji didn't have to follow orders. But he also knew better than to argue with Naruto when he was serious, so he nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto made a handseal, and three clones appeared, scattering to run off in different directions.

The sun was starting to set over the village as they jumped over roofs to the Hyuuga compound. The last rays of sunlight lit up the clouds red and orange, and sent long shadows stretching across the village.

They arrived in front of the Hyuuga compound, and the guards waved them through. The walls were bleached white, completely devoid of color. There was just one word to describe the Hyuuga compound; plain. It reminded Naruto more of a barracks than a home.

Hinata carried Hanabi to her room, and Naruto took a few minutes to scrub all the blood off his hands in the bathroom.

When he entered Hanabi's room he saw that she had been set down on her bedroll. _Bedroll? What the hell kind of place is this..._

Hinata was sitting next to her, holding her hand. Naruto walked over and sat next to her, at Hanabi's side. Just then, Hanabi's eyes started to flutter.

She opened her eyes. "What...where..." She sat up suddenly, or tried to, her memory returning.

"Shhhh." Hinata said, her hand on Hanabi's shoulder, pinning her to the floor. "It's fine. It's okay, everything's alright now." She squeezed Hanabi's hand. "You've had a pretty hectic day. Just try and sleep it off."

Naruto felt a lump form in his throat, watching them.

Hanabi's eyes traveled to Hinata's face. "Nee-san?...I feel like crap."

Hinata laughed softly. "You better not let father hear you talking like that."

Hanabi smiled in response, her head already dropping back on the bedroll. Her head rolled to the side, and she relaxed into sleep.

Naruto sat stunned. She fell asleep that fast? She hadn't even seen him.

Hinata turned to him, her eyes searching his. Then all of a sudden a dam broke, and Hinata's eyes started tearing up. His senses were assaulted with a plethora of emotions; _fear, relief, panic, sorrow, anxiety, anger, horror, gratitude, exhaustion. _

_How can one person contain so many emotions and _not _explode? _Naruto wondered.

She choked out a sob, and latched on to him. For a split second Naruto thought he was being assaulted, then he realized it was a hug. She had thrown her arms around his neck, and firmly planted her forehead against his chest.

Except Naruto was pretty sure hugs were supposed to end. This one wasn't. And his neck was starting to seriously hurt. So instead of shoving her off, he did the only other thing he could think of. He put his hands on her waist, and pulled her up a little, then gently lowered his back to the floor, wrapping his arms around her lower back.

Hinata didn't even notice.

A detached part of his personality watched with interest as her emotions started disappearing one at a time, as Hinata dealt with them. First, the panic vanished when she had latched on to Naruto. Then the fear disappeared next.

The other part of his personality tried very hard to think about something other than the fact that Hinata was lying on top of him. _Right_ on top of him. He tried not to think about the fact that her...chest was pressing firmly against his ribcage. He tried not to think about the fact that one of her legs had ended up entangled around one of his own. He tried not to think about how unbelievably _soft _her body was.

It wasn't working very well, so Naruto got out his mental sledgehammer and pounded those thoughts into submission. He locked them away under lock and key, determined to avoid them. After all, dwelling on any of those things would probably lead to a very embarrassing situation.

So instead he tried concentrating on how cold her arms were around his neck. When that didn't work, he looked at her shining midnight blue hair.

And that's how he found out about how unbelievably good her hair smelled. It didn't smell like any one particular thing. It smelled like... the air after a summer thunderstorm. Or the smell of his apartment when he got to open all the windows for the first time every spring, letting out the stale winter air and letting in the new, fresh air.

If there was one word he could've used to describe it, it would've been refreshing. He had to stop himself from inhaling deeply through his nose, trying to explore the scent completely.

_Wait. _Too late, he realized that he had already done just that. He blushed in mortification, waiting for Hinata to laugh at him, or look at him weird and tell him to get lost.

But it seemed that she was still too busy battling her emotions, because she didn't move.

xxxx

Hinata finally succeeded in bludgeoning away the last of her emotions, leaving her empty and exhausted. She could practically fall asleep right now, after all she was warm and comfortable, snug against Naruto.

_Against Naruto! _

Hinata emitted a loud squeak, pulling away from him suddenly. Naruto sat up, looking curiously at Hinata, who had backed away from him on her feet till she reached the wall.

She stared at him, petrified."Did I...t-tackle you?" Hinata asked, her stutter creeping back in.

Naruto laughed. "Well...not exactly. You didn't knock me over, anyway." He said, nervously scratching the back of his neck.

His response left her confused, but she was so embarrassed she immediately casted around for a new subject. "Naruto-kun...why did you leave that one man alive?" She asked, pulling on a thought that had been bothering her.

Naruto sobered immediately, his face falling behind an impenetrable mask. He lay back down, staring at the ceiling. Naruto examined his memories, and he felt his chest empty, as if his heart was hiding; too ashamed to poke it's head out.

"Someday, I want the whole world to understand each other. I want to put an end to all the wars, to the cycle of hatred that's tearing this world apart." He took a deep breath. "I don't think kids should be trained as killers before they can even legally drink."

"But those are huge goals. A radical change." He took a deep breath.

"One time, when we were fighting with Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei told me not to give my life away for Sasuke. Because if I did, I could never become Hokage."

"In return I asked him, 'How can I become Hokage if I can't even save one friend?'" Naruto smiled sadly. "The same principal applies to my new goals. How can I hope to save the world if I can't even protect Konoha, the village I live in?"

Hinata listened intently, not saying a word.

"As Hokage," Naruto continued, "it's my job to protect Konoha. And I intend to do the best job I can do. I'll use every weapon in my disposal." His voice turned cold as ice. "Including fear. That man today was barely older than us. I left him in shock, to wake up among his battered, ripped, torn, and very dead comrades."

Naruto's voice turned bitter. "I left that man alive today so that he can tell every missing-nin on the continent what happens when you mess with Konoha. So he can spread the stories about the rampaging Kyuubi running loose around Konoha, preying on those unfortunate enough to provoke it's anger."

Naruto closed his eyes, suddenly tired. He wanted to lift his head up, to judge Hinata's reaction to his words, but he was afraid of what he would see. The horror in her eyes, or the confusion as she told him she didn't know him anymore. Or the anger, as she called him a heartless bastard, and yelled at him to get out.

"I think you'll make an excellent Hokage, Naruto-sama." Hinata said softly.

The honorific, as well as her tone, conveyed nothing but respect. Naruto's eyes opened, and he lifted his head up to look at her, his eyebrows shooting up. Even her eyes conveyed nothing but respect, a small smile on her lips as she observed his shock.

Her smile fell a little. "However...I think you should rethink your strategy a little."

Naruto smiled in relief. He should've known better than to doubt Hinata. "Go on."

"The Hokage isn't just the protector of the village. He's also a public figure, the living symbol for Konoha. He's the guy everyone in the village looks up to, and the man people trust when things go wrong. That's why... I think you should be careful."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I understand that as Hokage you may have to make some...unpleasant decisions. But as Hokage, you don't want those things tainting your name. I think you should find someone you can trust who you can rely on to handle the more...unsavory side of protecting a village."

"You mean like Danzo did for the Third!" Naruto exclaimed, making the connection.

"That's where I got the idea." Hinata said, smiling.

"I get it...yeah you're probably right. I hadn't thought about it that way." Naruto said, scanning Hinata's eyes. Sometimes it was easy to forget how smart Hinata was.

He settled his head back on the floor, "Who should I ask though? ...Neji?...Sai? No..." He mumbled to himself.

A loud rumble split the air.

Naruto sat up, turning his head quickly back and forth, looking for the source of the loud noise.

Hinata laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. She pointed to Naruto's stomach.

"Oh... I didn't realize until just now how hungry I was." He said, rubbing his stomach.

He sobered, looking at Hinata. Her laughter stopped, changing to wariness as she eyed his expression.

"Hey... wanna go get something to eat with me?" He asked, turning a little red.

Hinata giggled. Naruto could stare down 8 elite shinobi like it was nothing, but he got nervous asking her to dinner.

"I'd love to." She said, shyly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

They got up, and Naruto held the door for Hinata as she walked through. Then they walked down the hallway side by side. Without even thinking about it, Naruto took her hand in his. It just...felt right.

Normally, Naruto couldn't sense positive emotions very well. But the emotion Hinata was emitting was so strong, and so pure, that Naruto couldn't help but feel it. It was happiness.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N

I like to think my English writing skills are better than Kishi's would be. I'm not him, and I don't own Naruto.

I don't really have anything else to say, so I'll just let you read. Enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

_Knock Knock. _Shizune and Tsunade looked up from the desk, and Tsunade frowned at the door.  
>"Come in."<p>

Naruto warily opened the door, stepping inside. He walked forward slowly, eying Tsunade carefully. There was a lightning-quick movement, and Naruto immediately dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the chair that rocketed past. It slammed into the wall, shattering into pieces.

After Tsunade broke the walls a few times, the Hokage Tower was rebuilt. They rebuilt it out of solid concrete, with steel rebar running through the walls, from down in the foundation all the way up to the roof. A tornado could flatten the rest of Konoha, but you could be damn sure that the Hokage Tower wasn't going anywhere. And, this way, the walls were Tsunade-proof.

"HEY!" Naruto shouted. "What the hell was that for?"

"SHUT UP, BRAT!" Tsunade yelled, throwing a potted plant.

Naruto dodged this too, and the pot exploded against the wall in a shower of dirt and clay.

"Get off your ass and come see me yourself, you lazy twerp!" Tsunade said, and threw a stapler with deadly accuracy.

Unfortunately, Naruto was just a little too slow this time. The stapler clipped his right bicep, and he imploded in a cloud of smoke.

"How did you know it was a clone?" Shizune asked curiously.

"Remember this, Shizune. When it comes to Naruto, it's ALWAYS a clone." Tsunade said seriously.

LTLTLTLT

"And then...Damn!" Naruto broke off suddenly, mid-sentence.

Hinata raised her eyebrows at him, quizzically, and continued to chew her barbecue.

His hands formed a familiar handseal, and a clone of Naruto appeared, dashing off. "Granny's grumpy tonight." Naruto said by way of explanation.

Hinata nodded as if that made sense, and returned to her barbecue.

LTLTLTLT

Naruto jumped down into the Inuzuka compound, stopping for a second to take his bearings. The setting sun was almost past the horizon, casting long shadows into the compound, making it difficult to see.

The walkway Naruto was on was made entirely of brick. It was about as wide as Naruto was tall, and it had rows of plants on either side. To his right, a row of bushes met a brick wall that rose above his shoulders. Grapevines twisted up the wall in a chaotic maze so complex it was impossible to follow one vine from top to bottom.

To his left, a row of grass preceded another row of bushes. The bushes were prickly, and they were filled with small red berries that Naruto knew better than to eat. He had tried a handful as a kid, and if the bitter taste and grainy texture weren't enough, they also left him sick for the rest of the night.

On the other side of the bushes was another stretch of grass, and then another walkway and the wall. Naruto jogged down the walkway, making sure to glance over to the other side as well.

He pricked his ears as laughter echoed down the passageway. He slowed to a walk as he recognized the chakra signatures.

The long, deep shadow kept even Naruto's keen eyesight from picking them out until he was within speaking range.

Naruto smirked as he felt the wind blow against his face. With the wind to his front, there was almost no chance of them smelling him. That meant he could sneak up on them.

Naruto stopped as they came into view. Ken, Chamaru, Akamaru and Kiba were lined up in front of the last bush on the right.

_What the hell? _

The sound of a zipper being zipped up drifted to his ears. Ken moved aside to join Kiba, who was standing with a satisfied air.

Chamaru walked up, lifted a leg, and peed in the same spot. Then Akamaru did the same thing.

"What the _hell?_" Naruto vocalized his thoughts.

Ken and Kiba, as well as the two Ninken, whirled to face him.

"Oh. Hey Naruto." Kiba said, relaxing.

"Umm...Sensei? How long have you been standing there?" Ken asked, apparently the only one to realize that Naruto wasn't witnessing what he thought was normal behavior. When Naruto didn't respond, gaping, he continued..."Uh... we were just marking our territory..." he laughed awkwardly.

_What has been seen cannot be unseen_. Naruto shook his head rapidly.

The Kyuubi laughed behind his bars, his malevolent cackle echoing in Naruto's head.

"OH!" Ken said suddenly, remembering. "What happened? Is Hanabi alright?"

"And what about Hinata?" Kiba added, trying to sound nonchalant.

Naruto's brain kick-started."Oh. Right. Why I'm here. They're both fine." Naruto said.

Ken sighed in relief, and Kiba's shoulders relaxed a little. He clapped Ken's shoulder. "See? I told you there was nothing to worry about. Don't ever underestimate your Sensei."

"Awww, thanks Kiba." Naruto grinned, kneeling down to pet the two dogs.

"I was talking about Hinata." Kiba joked.

"No kidding." Naruto said seriously, turning to Ken. "Don't be fooled by that caring, compassionate, outer shell. Man, I remember this one time, after we got back from the war, there was this really aggressive fangirl who wouldn't leave me alone. Hinata got a little protective and...well, it was basically the most terrifying thing I've ever seen...and that's saying something."

Kiba laughed. "That's nothing. This one time, when we were genin, Shino made a comment about you coming up short in the intelligence department." Akamaru's wagging tail sped up.

"Hinata decided to give him a lesson on what happens when a Taijutsu specialist gets inside his ninjutsu range." Kiba grinned. "He was skittish around her for a month, flinched every time she said his name, and he couldn't look at her for a whole week." Akamaru barked, wagging his tail fiercely.

Naruto grinned, and Ken laughed. "I bet he started practicing his Taijutsu after that!" The boy exclaimed.

Kiba laughed. "You have no idea."

Naruto smiled slightly, watching as Chamaru rubbed his face against Naruto's palm, eyes closed in ecstasy.

Akamaru buried his nose in Naruto's crotch. "Oof! What the hell, dog, you know it's me!" Naruto exclaimed, scooting backwards.

Akamaru backed up a little, and barked a couple times, wagging his tail. Chamaru wagged his tail fiercely in response, and the two Inuzuka laughed.

"Akamaru says he still doesn't smell any girl down there. What good's being the village hero and the future Hokage if you can't even get laid, dude?" Kiba asked.

"Hey. You're corrupting my students." Naruto said, shooting a glance at the grinning Chunin.

"Sensei. I've seen dogs mating in the courtyard since I was, like, 6." Ken said, exasperated.

"Still..." Naruto mumbled, uncomfortable.

"You know, if you won't accept any _advances_ from any of your fangirls, then you should at least ask Hinata out." Kiba continued.

"Actually, Hinata and I are on a date right now." Naruto said, feeling vindicated.

He took a second to relish the expression on their faces. "Aaaaand now I'm going to leave before you can ask troublesome questions."

Kiba jumped forward, grabbing for Naruto's shirt. "Wait!"

Naruto evaporated into smoke, which slipped through Kiba's grasping fingers. "Damn!" Kiba said, frustrated. "That was a clone?"

Ken looked up, completely serious. "It's _always _a clone, Kiba." Chamaru barked in agreement.

LTLTLTLT

Naruto knocked on the door.

"Come in." Tsunade's voice sounded from the other side.

"It's the real me this time." Naruto said, warily opening the door and walking in. Tsunade and Shizune were sitting behind the large desk, looking over some paperwork. They both smiled at him when he walked in.

"Oh. Hey Naruto." Tsunade said warmly. Still smiling, she reached for a cup on her desk, filled with various writing instruments, from pencils to highlighters.

Naruto tensed. The Hokage was smiling exactly like a fox, before they pounced on their prey. Naruto knew exactly what that smile looked like.

Shizune gasped in alarm as the Hokage started slicing the air with pens and pencils, all aimed at Naruto.

Naruto ducked and weaved, dodging the projectiles as best he could. "What the hell? IT'S ME YOU OLD HAG!" He yelled.

"LIAR! I can tell the difference, brat!"

Shizune covered her ears. She still remembered the first time she had listened to a yelling match between Tsunade and Naruto. She hadn't covered her ears, for fear of looking weak. Her ears had rang for hours.

Tsunade took a second cup of pens, and cast it into the air in a wide arc. As Naruto looked up, to dodge the rain of projectiles, Tsunade cast one last pen, which she had kept in her hand. It speared Naruto right in the chest, and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Shizune looked in distress at the swamp of writing utensils covering the floor. She sighed heavily.

Tsunade looked at Shizune, then at the floor. "Just leave them, Shizune." She said, grinning slightly.

Shizune sighed. "Hai, Hokage-sama." Then a thought struck her. "Tsunade-sama? How can you tell the difference between the clones and the real thing?" She asked, curious.

Tsunade laughed. "That's easy. The clones are always wary, looking out for anything that might make them dispel. The real Naruto is completely oblivious." She said, grinning. She gestured to the floor.

Shizune looked at the floor for a second, uncomprehending. Then , in spite of herself, she grinned.

LTLTLTLT

Naruto and Hinata reclined in their booths, relaxing. Naruto had paid, the dishes had been taken away, and now they were just chatting absentmindedly. Well, Naruto was the one doing most of the chatting, but Hinata didn't mind. She wasn't all that much of a talker.

The good thing was, she didn't have to fake interest or amusement. Naruto was genuinely a funny guy. _I wonder at what point he actually picked up social skills. _Hinata thought absentmindedly. Naruto had come a long way from the thirteen year-old brat who only knew one way to communicate; shouting.

Of course, at the time, Hinata had admired him for that very trait.

The grill in front of them had put out a lot of heat, and Naruto was glad, for it excused the light blush on his cheeks. After it had started heating up, Hinata had shyly taken off her jacket, revealing the form-hugging mesh shirt underneath.

It took an extraordinary amount of will not to stare at her breasts, but Naruto was a strong-willed man. He contented himself with only a quick glance every minute or so.

Then he absorbed the clone's memory. "Damn." He said.

"What?" Hinata asked.

"Granny's really, _really _not in a good mood tonight. I suppose I'll actually have to go see her myself." He said, sighing a little.

"The Hokage?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah."

Hinata grinned. She had been so worried about Hanabi, and then so distracted by Naruto, that she hadn't even thought about reporting to the Hokage.

"Well...I suppose we shouldn't keep her waiting much longer." Hinata said regretfully. She didn't really want to leave.

"We?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"Yeah. She'll probably want to hear from me too." Hinata said, standing up and putting on her jacket.

"Errr... Actually, I don't think that's such a good idea." Naruto said, standing too. "Granny's pretty dangerous tonight...besides I'm sure you're tired, after today."

"I guess so." Hinata said. She supposed that she should've been tired, but being near Naruto filled her with nervous energy, and she didn't feel tired at all.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Naruto said. Then, sensing her hesitation, he added, "If she asks, I'll just tell her you're exhausted and will report tommorow."

It warmed Hinata's heart, that he was concerned for her. "Okay." She said, as they exited the restaurant. It's not like she could really refuse Naruto anyway.

They paused awkwardly, in the street, facing each other. They were going in completely opposite directions. Hinata searched Naruto's blue eyes. "Naruto-kun. Thank you so much. For everything." She said, her voice raw with emotion.

Naruto stared back. He remembered the feeling in his chest as he had chased after Hinata, desperate to catch up. "I'm really glad you're okay." He said. The words felt totally inadequate.

Simultaneously, they stepped forward, enveloping each other in a tight hug. Naruto was surprised to find that Hinata was almost as tall as him. All he had to do was lean over a little, and she could put her chin on his shoulder, her cheek against his. Most of his fangirls didn't even come up to his shoulders.

After a few seconds they separated. Hinata searched Naruto's eyes, staring into the blue depths that were impossible to read.

His eyes dropped to her lips, and for a heart-stopping second she thought he was going to kiss her.

"I'll see you around." Naruto said, and then he was gone.

Hinata turned around, starting the walk home. She couldn't hide the radiant smile on her face. When Hinata entered the Hyuuga compound, she was certain she would never be able to get to sleep, she was still so full of energy.

She fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow.

LTLTLTLT

Naruto was still smiling like an idiot when he opened the Hokage's door, not bothering to knock. The smile was knocked off his face a second later, as his foot rolled over a pen, and he crashed onto his tailbone.

Tsunade and Shizune both looked up, Shizune covering her mouth with her hand, and Tsunade openly laughing at Naruto.

"You _left_ all this shit on the floor?" Naruto whined.

"Language, brat." Tsunade said.

Naruto made 10 clones, which knelt down and started rapidly clearing the floor of writing utensils.

Tsunade watched as the clones carried them over to her desk, and dumped them in the two large cups. "Thank you." She said, as they dispelled. She picked up one of the cups, and preceded to start chucking pens at Naruto.

"If you know it's me why are you still chucking things at me?" Naruto asked, dodging around the pens.

"TWO WEEKS I SAID! All I wanted was two quiet weeks, two peaceful weeks before I retired! I told you to stay here and train your little Chunin team so...that...you...wouldn't...get...into...trouble!" Each word was punctuated with a deadly projectile.

"And you ask why I'm mad at you? When, instead of the easy transition I asked for, you plant a political crisis on my desk instead?" She threw another pen, causing Naruto to duck, leaving the pen quivering in the door.

"THEY KIDNAPPED MY STUDENT!" Naruto shouted in frustration.

"And then, on top of that, you don't even bother coming to report to your Hokage for a few hours?" Tsunade shouted, ignoring him.

Shizune had her hands clamped firmly over her ears.

"I TRIED! TWICE!" Naruto shouted back angrily. "It's your own fault-"

"This is all your fault!" Tsunade shouted, drowning him out. "You attract trouble like a lantern attracts moths!"

"And what do you want me to do about it?" Naruto asked, exasperated.

"Oh, good. I was hoping you'd ask." Tsunade said, voice abruptly normal, retaking her seat. "I want you to go to Kumo and talk to the Raikage about it. I'm sure you remember what happened when Hinata was kidnapped as a young girl."

"Yeah." Naruto said, remembering his fight with Neji in the Chunin exams.

"I have a feeling that if you're the one to talk to the Raikage, you might be able to arrive at a peaceful conclusion to this mess. Without any more bloodshed."

"I see. Alright, I'll do it."

"Good. I've assigned a couple of ANBU to travel with you-"

"That won't be necessary." Naruto said calmly. "I won't be traveling to Kumo the normal way."

"You expect me to allow you to wander into Kumo without guards?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes. Because you don't have a choice. I don't feel like taking a couple days to travel to Kumo when I could do it my way instead. Besides, I won't be there long." Naruto said confidently.

Tsunade shook her head. "Whatever, brat. Just don't get yourself killed."She knotted her fingers together, staring at him. "Now. Report."

LTLTLTLTLT

_Earlier that evening_

Naruto traveled to the very bottom of the Hokage Monument, directly below the Third's head. The door was small, and hidden behind the vegetation that grew against the bottom of the cliff. Naruto knew vaguely how many paces it was from here, but trying to find the door otherwise would be almost impossible.

Naruto jumped onto the side of the cliff, so he wouldn't have to walk through the vegetation. Then, walking with his head parallel to the ground, he started walking west, counting his paces.

When he got to fifty he dismounted, jumping down onto the forest floor below. Then he started walking forward, searching for Ryuu's door by sweeping the vines and ferns out of the way.

He came to a particularly large fern, which he vaguely recognized, and swept it to the side. Behind it, embedded in the cliff face stood a small door. It was painted the same light brown as the rest of the cliff, and blended in almost perfectly. It was also short, a couple feet shorter than Naruto. He knocked, then opened the door, knowing how unlikely it was that Ryuu had heard the noise.

Inside, there was a short tunnel, the same height as the door. Naruto stooped, and walked slowly through it. The tunnel was dark at the front, sloping down and to the right. After he came around a bend, however, the tunnel started to lighten up, and Naruto emerged into a large cavern. The cavern was well-lit, and Naruto wondered, not for the first time, how Ryuu managed to get electricity back here.

"Anybody home?" He asked. The cavern was large, as wide as his apartment, and a couple stories tall. Ryuu had stacked large wooden shelves against both walls, from several feet off the ground up to the ceiling. Ryuu had chemically treated the wood to resist moisture, but Naruto still didn't see how he kept them from rotting.

The floor was also littered with the occasional stalagmite, and a path had been worn into the floor, winding between them. Naruto took it now, traveling deeper into the cave. He watched his feet, wary for the occasional sudden dip and rise in the cave floor.

"Hello?" He called, louder now.

"Yo! Sensei! I'm back here!" Ryuu's voice echoed from the back of the cave.

Naruto continued down the path, which was constantly sloping downwards. He noticed with interest that a large shelf on his right, which was actually sealed closed on three sides, was filled to the brim with a collection of scrolls. There was also a table in front of it, with a few scrolls sitting on top. Naruto resisted the urge to pick one up, and continued forwards.

Soon, the light revealed the end of the path, where the cavern doubled in width. Tables were strewn about the circular room, covered with different instruments. On one, a couple scrolls were rolled out. On the second, several rows of kunai knives were laid out, gleaming as if recently cleaned and sharpened. Next to them, two long ninjato were laid out, next to their scabbards. Naruto's favorite table was the largest table in the room, a huge slab of wood several inches thick that lay on top of two large stalagmites. Ryuu had somehow managed to flatten the stalagmites, cutting through the stone and removing the tips. The large table was bolted through the board and into the cones of solid mineral.

Naruto had never been at the back of the cavern before, and he noticed that cracks had been grooved out where the wall met the floor. Most of the water that collected in the damp cave collected and found its way to the small ditches, running down to this point, and out the back wall.

The back wall didn't come all the way down to the floor, Naruto noticed. It stopped a few feet above the ground, where the cave continued, and disappeared into darkness. The sounds of water rushing by could be heard below, the signs of an underground river.

A hammock was shoved into the far corner, tied between a stalagmite and an anchor in the wall, as if sleep was the last thing Ryuu ever worried about. Ryuu stood just to the right of the center of the floor, drinking straight out of a pitcher. In front of him, everything had been cleared, including the tables, which had been shoved to the side. The wall Ryuu was facing was completely covered in soot. Where the rest of the walls gleamed, as if the rocks were sweating, this rock was completely dry.

Ryuu finished gulping down the pitcher, spilling half of it down his front. His light brown skin was flushed and he was perspiring heavily. His face and dark brown, spiky hair were streaked with soot. His teeth gleamed white against his tanned skin, and his dark green eyes were alight with mischief.

"Sup, sensei?" He asked, eyes glinting.

"You seem to be in a very good mood... and very unconcerned for your teammate." Naruto noticed, watching Ryuu warily. "Is there something I should know?"

"Mmmmm... well I saw you...on a date with Hinata-sensei!" Ryuu busted out laughing.

Naruto felt his ears turned red.

"It's about damn time, sensei!" Ryuu exclaimed, smirking. "I can't believe you didn't notice me walk past the window. You must be getting old."

"Yeah no kidding." Naruto said sarcastically. "I'm already a whole 21 years old. Practically _ancient._"

Ryuu laughed, and Naruto grinned despite himself. It was an old joke between them.

"So, you wanna tell me what this is?" Naruto asked, waving a hand towards the soot covered wall.

"Oh. I've been practicing a new jutsu. It was a little hard to control..." Ryuu said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Was?" Naruto questioned.

"I've got it under control now." Ryuu assured him.

"How long have you been working on this jutsu?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Uhh...a few hours." Ryuu answered absentmindedly.

Naruto was starting to get concerned. "And...what technique was this?"

"I'll show you!" Ryuu exclaimed excitedly, turning to face the wall. Naruto hurried to scoot out of the way. There was no such thing as taking chances when it came to Ryuu.

Ryuu focused, his hands forming the tiger seal, his brows furrowed. He took a deep breath, then exhaled, releasing a large burst of fire from his mouth. "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!" He shouted, as the fire ball took the shape of a giant dragon's head. The head crashed into the wall, and Naruto ducked reflexively as the entire cave shook, dumping dirt all around them.

"Whoa! That was the strongest one yet!" Ryuu exclaimed excitedly, his voice scratchy.

Naruto shook his hair, sending dirt flying. "Maybe you should move practice outside." He said seriously. _This kid's a monster. _He thought, not for the first time. Mastering a B-rank technique in a few _hours. _It would take an average shinobi at least a week of hard work to learn a technique like that.

Ryuu cleared his throat. "Yeah, I guess so." He said, studying the wall. His face fell into a frown, a relatively rare occurrence.

"You know, Sensei, I used to think loneliness was the worst feeling in the world." He said, his face still facing the wall.

"I was so lonely sometimes, growing up, that I used to go to funerals to make myself feel better. I would watch the people crying over the coffin, and take comfort over the fact that there were others as sad as me. But then I would think; these people don't know anything. At least they still have friends, or family. Other people sharing their grief. And at least they had someone close to them in the first place."

Naruto stayed silent, waiting.

"I never had anyone." Ryuu said, his eyes tearing up, gaze still fixed on the wall. "Do you know what that's like, Sensei?"

He turned to face Naruto, who looked him in the eyes. "I guess you do." Ryuu said sadly, turning back to the wall.

"The entire time I lived alone, I felt empty. Like I was living for no reason, with no future. The other kids at the academy generally ignored me. I had no one to help me, no one to teach me. The teachers were too busy to give me extra help, when all the other kids were Clan ninja, with their Clans to help them. I fell behind, and I became unpopular in my class." Ryuu took a deep breath. "Still, I was alone."

"Then I graduated, and I met you, the village hero. The Bell Test drew Hanabi, Ken, and I together. And before long, I had friends. The void in my chest had been filled. I had people I cared about, and people who cared about me. I became a whole person, and for the first time I felt truly happy." Tears were tracing their way down Ryuu's face, but he made no move to wipe them away.

He took another deep breath. "And then today. 10 missing-nin out of nowhere. They had Hanabi before I realized what was happening, and then when I tried to follow, I was knocked unconscious. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness, was Hinata-sensei and Ken locked in a genjutsu battle of wills, completely oblivious. I woke up, totally alone, in the practice fields."

"You weren't there, the Shinobi had a head start, and there were at least 10 of them. I realized Hanabi was most likely gone...or dead. I only really have 3 people precious to me. I was...distraught...to say the least, over the possibility of losing one of them. I panicked. What if Hanabi was gone, and they split us up? What if I was stuck in a new team, one with people I hated?"

"To keep myself from thinking about it, I came back here and threw myself into mastering a new Jutsu. When I ran out of Chakra, I walked into town."

"That's when I saw you and Hinata-sensei through the window, smiling and laughing." Ryuu smiled, wiping the tears off his face. "And I realized everything was going to be alright. Then, on my way back here, I realized something else. You're probably going to be Hokage in a few weeks, and you won't always be around to protect us."

"And that's when I realized. The only thing worse than being totally alone, without ever having anyone to love, is going back to being completely alone after learning what love is. I'm never going to go back to being alone again, Sensei." He turned his head to meet Naruto's gaze. "I'm going to get stronger." His eyes seemed to glow, as if alight. "I'm going to become a ninja so famous, so feared, that no one will ever mess with the people precious to me again."

A/N

And that's Chapter 3! I really enjoyed writing the part about the cave, that was a lot of fun. I didn't really mean for Hinata and Naruto to have much screen time together this chapter, but the NaruHina part kind of wrote itself. xD

Please, please review, hearing from you all might be my favorite part of writing fanfiction!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N **

I decided to keep going with this story after all; it's just too much fun.

Enjoy! :D

**Chapter 4**

_A few days later _

"I've told you before that being Hokage isn't all about handing out missions or standing in front of a crowd with a badass coat." Tsunade lectured, as they walked down the hallway.

Naruto groaned. He could see where this was going; somewhere troublesome.

"As Hokage, there will be people you will have to deal with, people who may not necessarily like you." Tsunade continued. "Especially you; there will doubtless be older, more experienced shinobi who will resent you for your quick rise to power."

Naruto didn't disagree, and Tsunade could tell that he was listening carefully. That was one thing about Naruto; he wanted to be everyone's friend.

"I'm taking you to meet the ANBU who will be protecting you during the inauguration. These will be the people protecting your life; try not to piss any of them off."

Tsunade stopped in front of a door, which Naruto recognized as an informal meeting room. Naruto couldn't feel or hear anything from the other side, which meant that it must be sealed; probably for privacy. Naruto smiled slightly; he liked these ANBU already.

Tsunade grabbed hold of the doorknob, then turned to look at Naruto. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself, then nodded at Tsunade. She opened the door, and stepped inside, Naruto following closely, his face perfectly neutral.

"SURPRISE!"

The wall of sound almost blasted Naruto back out of the room.

He slowly stood up, out of the stance he had automatically taken, surveying the room, beginning to smile.

The occupants of the room burst out laughing, Tsunade in particularly. The female Hokage was bent over at the waist, clutching to the doorknob in order to stay upright while laughing hysterically.

When she finally stopped, she was gasping for breath. She pointed at Naruto, still clutching her stomach. "You...you should have seen the look on your face!" She gasped, bursting out into fresh laughter.

A few giggles scattered throughout the rest of the room, but other than that the shinobi stayed mostly quiet, waiting for a reaction from Naruto.

Naruto scowled at Tsunade, then moved past her, playfully bumping her into the door as he passed.

Tsunade let out an _oof _as her cheek was smushed painfully against the wooden door.

Naruto grinned, taking his seat at the head of the table. The rest of the shinobi sat, too, pulling out their chairs and sitting on either side of the table.

Tsunade crossed the room to sit across from him, and promptly put her legs up on the table. Reclining in her seat, she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, as if she wasn't paying attention. Naruto ignored her, busy examining the shinobi around him.

On his right hand side, Sasuke sat, looking at him with a slightly haughty expression, as usual. He wore an amused smirk on his face, and he met Naruto's gaze unwaveringly. Next to him, Sakura sat perfectly straight, her hands in her lap, smiling at Naruto.

On the other side of Sakura, Sai sat, his face betraying absolutely no emotion. At least he had finally stopped smiling at Naruto with that fake smile he hated. On Sai's other side, Ino sat, reclined in her chair, her impatience obvious.

Chouji and Shikamaru finished the right side of the table, Chouji's face surprisingly neutral, Shikamaru's as bored as usual.

On the other side of Tsunade, Tenten winked at Naruto. Next to her, Lee smiled, his teeth flashing, and gave Naruto a thumbs up. Neji sat with his back perfectly straight, his face neutral, his posture as perfect as any clan head's.

Shino was a mirror of Neji, observing Naruto calmly behind his sunglasses. Hinata smiled shyly at him, but didn't look down.

Finally, directly to his left, Kiba was grinning at Naruto, almost as if they were sharing a joke. Between Kiba and Naruto, Akamaru sat on the floor, wagging his tail slightly when Naruto looked at him.

Naruto let the silence drag out for another minute, waiting. He shifted his gaze from ninja to ninja, not quickly, but never pausing long enough to force anyone to look away, either.

Other than Tenten's wink and Lee's thumbs up, they made no other movement, simply waiting on Naruto, as if they realized this was a test.

Finally, Naruto decided he had kept them waiting long enough.

"I couldn't come up with a better team if I made it myself." He said finally, smiling.

A collective sigh was issued from every member of the room, even if Neji tried to cover it. Naruto saw Sakura relax out of the corner of his eye, smiling again.

"Finally, brat. I was wondering how long you were going to keep us waiting."

"Keep _you _waiting?" Naruto asked incredulously, slipping out of Hokage mode. "I can't even count the number of times I've seen you fall asleep on the job this last week!"

"That's a lie! I don't ever fall asleep at work!" Tsunade said, standing up out of her chair to point a finger at Naruto.

"Yeah, right, like you're fooling anyone. And you snore too!" He exclaimed.

"I do NOT snore!" Tsunade exclaimed indignantly.

"You're right." Naruto nodded. "It's more like listening to an elephant wheeze after running a mile." He said thoughtfully.

"Hokage-sama." Shino interrupted calmly. Both Naruto and Tsunade turned to look at him. "Perhaps you could continue this conversation at another time?"He asked. "You're agitating my kikai bugs."

It was a total lie, and they both knew it, but Tsunade retook her seat and Naruto nodded, both grinning.

"There's something else you should know, as well, brat." Tsunade said. "All of the people in this room, even the ones who weren't before, are now ANBU. After you take over, they will remain ANBU, and be your personal ANBU. That means that you can command them however you wish, without going through ANBU command."

"And, " Shikamaru added, "If you keep us, it means that we'll be protecting you at future public events. Like the Chunin Exam finals, for example."

"Sounds good to me." Naruto grinned.

"Good." Tsunade rose from her chair. "I'll leave the plans to you." She paused at the door. "Oh, by the way. The Hokage's Inauguration is just as much of a stunt as it is an exchange of power." She smiled. "Put on a good show."

Naruto, Ino, Sakura, and Kiba all grinned, while Shikamaru dropped his forehead into his palms. "So troublesome."

xxxx

As the rest of the Konoha 13 filed out, Naruto spoke up. "Hey Hinata, will you stay behind for a second?"

Hinata, Ino, and Sakura all froze. Ino and Sakura turned to look at Naruto, then each other, smiled, and walked out the door, whispering.

Naruto got up, and closed the door behind them. He activated the seals too, considering the rather high probability of unwanted listeners.

He turned to look at Hinata, who was standing, looking slightly nervous.

"You didn't really say much during the meeting. What do you think of our plans?" He asked curiously.

Hinata smiled a little. "It sounds...fun." She said honestly.

Naruto grinned. "Great. I'm starving, you wanna go get some lunch?"

Hinata froze, as if unable to believe her ears. Naruto smiled again...she was so freakin' cute like that.

"W-with you?" She asked hesitantly. She hadn't wanted to believe that the dinner was more than a one-time thing. She didn't want to get her hopes up, only to have them crushed.

"Well yeah. Unless you have plans to eat with someone else..." Naruto said, teasing.

"No!" Hinata burst out. "I-I'd like that."

Naruto grinned, and offered her his hand.

She blushed furiously, but took his hand, unable to keep the smile from spreading on her face as they walked out of the Hokage Tower.

xxxx

_A couple days later, the day of Naruto's inauguration_

Naruto turned to look as the door opened, and smiled at Sakura. She was the first one to enter, and she closed the door softly behind her, and returned Naruto's smile.

She looked slightly shocked as she took in Naruto's new look. "How do I look?" He asked.

He was wearing navy blue pants, as usual, but instead of the normal undershirt and jacket, he wore a long-sleeved black shirt and his green flak jacket. Naruto almost never wore his flak jacket, saving it for more formal occasions, which was odd since it was meant for field use. His pants and shirt had been ironed, and were creased perfectly and wrinkle free.

She stepped closer, eying him critically. She licked her fingers, and pressed down a stray golden lock that was sticking out at an odd angle. She frowned when it refused to stay down, and was about to try again when a voice from behind made her freeze.

"Would you stop mothering him, Sakura? He looks fine."

Sakura whirled around. "Would you shut up Ino! You..."

Naruto tuned them out as Sakura and Ino began their usual bickering. He sighed as the two banshees started raising their voices, and plopped down on the couch against the wall.

They were in a narrow, but long, rectangular room, light streaming in from a few small windows to his left. The door in front of him, where Sakura and Ino had entered, led out into the hallway. To his left a second door led out onto a decently sized balcony, from which there was a staircase up to the back of the roof of the Hokage's tower.

The door opened silently, and Sasuke entered, eyes scanning the room instantly. He glanced again at Ino and Sakura, then turned to look at Naruto. He shook his head slightly in exasperation, and Naruto grinned back at him.

Sasuke crossed over to sit on the wide armrest, to the left of Naruto. Naruto took a second to wonder why the hell Sasuke didn't just sit on the couch like a normal person. A moment later, the door opened, and Naruto was suddenly glad that Sasuke hadn't sat next to him on the couch.

Hinata opened the door, shut it behind her, then turned to look at the two girls that were still arguing. She turned to look at Naruto, who rose his eyebrows and grinned at her.

She smiled, partly at Naruto, and partly in happiness at the familiarity in the gesture. He patted the couch beside him, and she blushed slightly before moving to sit beside him. She sat stiffly, her hands on her thighs, very aware of Sasuke's presence just on the other side of Naruto. However, the blonde took her hand off her thigh anyway, and held it in his hand.

Hinata shot a glance at Sasuke, who was looking at them with an amused smirk on his face.

"About damn time." Sasuke said in amusement.

"What was that, Teme?" Naruto asked, with a slight edge to his voice.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows innocently."I said it's about damn time Ino and Sakura shut up."

Hinata and Naruto glanced to the side, and were surprised to find out that the two Kunoichi had, indeed, shut up. Both of them were staring in shock at their clasped hands. Then they turned around and started whispering furiously to each other. Apparently the rumors in the Hokage's Tower had been true, after all.

Hinata blushed slightly, while both Naruto and Sasuke rolled their eyes.

_Girls. _

The door opened again, and Kiba and Shino entered.

Kiba grinned instantly upon spotting them on the couch, his eyes glinting in mischief.

"Hey Naruto!" He called, making a large show of sniffing the air. "I smell a vixen in heat...can you smell it too?"

Naruto was opening his mouth to reply when he was interrupted.

"Kiba! You're annoying! Why don't you go hump a fire hydrant or something?" Ino asked loudly.

Kiba's neck got a little red. "What is it with me and fire hydrants? I swear you've got some kind of weird fetish!"

"You'd be surprised how many girls have crazy ideas about firemen." Hinata stated calmly.

Ino swiveled her head from Hinata to Kiba rapidly, beginning to panic. "What? No-no that's...that's not what I meant at all!"

"You'd probably really like to see my long hose wouldn't you." Kiba said, grinning."Or maybe it's the uniform?" He gestured down at his clothes.

Naruto started laughing uncontrollably.

Ino was blushing now. "You...you perverted FREAK!" She yelled, raised her fist, and started chasing Kiba around the room, while Naruto tried extremely hard not to fall off the couch.

"Oh, honestly." Sakura said.

"Get a room." Sasuke told them, pretending to be slightly annoyed. He was betrayed by the wide smirk on his face.

Shino waited for the two to fly past him before crossing the room calmly, leaning against the wall next to Hinata's end of the couch.

"YOSH!" The loud yell announced Lee's presence. "The amount of youth in this room is overflowing!"

"It's too early for this." Shikamaru sighed behind him.

xxxx

Sasuke sighed impatiently. He still didn't know why they'd agreed to meet here so early. Having these specific people in the same room for any amount of time, when they weren't on a mission, was a disaster waiting to happen.

"Sai." He said abruptly. The pale, emotionless ninja looked up from where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Let's go." It was a little early, but Sasuke needed to get _out._

Sai nodded, and rose to his feet, following Sasuke out to the balcony.

xxxx

Iruka stood next to Anko, Kakashi and Kurenai in the crowd. The sun was high enough in the sky now that it was no longer shining in their eyes, but still early enough to avoid the midday heat.

Kurenai's son was sitting on Kakashi's shoulders staring at the top of the Hokage Tower. The three of them had arrived early, but the crowd was already large, and they were still a fair distance from the tower. Now, however, the crowd was enormous. It filled every street within sight of the Hokage's Tower, citizens and ninja alike crammed together on the streets.

After all, people had come from all across the continent to see the Hero of the Fourth Shinobi War designated as Hokage.

Kurenai's son gasped with the rest of the crowd as two enormous birds rose off the tower. One was a golden hawk, which had to be one of Sasuke's hawk summons. The other was white as paper with harsh black outlines, clearly Sai's work.

The two birds rose in the air quickly, gaining altitude. Once they were high enough in the sky to be merely thumb-sized, they stopped rising and started circling the square.

"Shouldn't they have been there a little earlier?" Iruka asked.

"You're forgetting that they're the show." Kakashi responded. "There are other ANBU around the square already."

There were? Iruka craned his neck. He hadn't seen any.

"You're not supposed to be able to see them, silly." Anko laughed beside him. "You're supposed to focus on the illustrious Konoha 13, while the _real_ security remains in the shadows."

Kakashi frowned slightly, but didn't contradict her.

"How long till it's supposed to start?" Kurenai asked.

Kakashi had just checked, "It's supposed to be another 15 minutes. But if Sai and Sasuke kick-started things...who knows. Tsunade-sama could be here any minute now."

xxxx

Shino came in from the balcony. "Tsunade-sama has informed me that we are starting earlier than planned. Let's go." The ninja quickly hopped to their feet, heading towards the door.

"Why's she changing things up? We weren't supposed to start for another 15 minutes." Naruto asked.

"She probably doesn't want to lose the excitement created by the emo-princes and their wonderbirds." Shikamaru said sarcastically.

Sakura punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't call him that, you know he hates it!"

Shikamaru rubbed his shoulder, "He's not even here right now you crazy woman." He rubbed his shoulder again, and Sakura frowned. Maybe she'd punched him harder than she thought.

They all jumped up on the roof, starting to smile in excitement.

"Masks." Shikamaru said calmly, next to Naruto.

"Beast Human Clone!" Kiba exclaimed from behind them, and Naruto turned to see two identical grins as Kiba and Akamaru slipped on their masks.

Naruto grinned. "You guys look awesome. Where's Baa-chan?"

Shikamaru pointed. "Shhh. It's starting."

xxxx

Iruka held his hand over his eyes as he looked up at the top of the Hokage Tower. Sure enough, there was Tsunade-sama, wearing the Hokage's coat, her hands on the railing. Behind her, two ANBU flanked her in their normal black and silver attire.

The crowd had hushed when she appeared, and she spoke now, her voice resounding clearly throughout the streets.

**"Good morning! I am Senju Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage! To all our visitors; welcome to Konoha!" **

She paused for a moment as the crowd went nuts, the amount of noise making Iruka wince and wish he had brought earplugs.

"**Normally I would have some lengthy speech prepared for you. But I have managed to find a scapegoat-I mean a successor."**

She paused while some among the crowd laughed.

**"And quite frankly, I'm more than ready to retire, and get the hell out of this heavy coat." **She paused again. **"So without further ado, allow me to introduce the future Rokudaime Hokage, Uzamaki Naruto!"**

She stepped back and to the side as the crowd erupted into cheers.

The sound of a bass drum being struck echoed throughout the streets. Where the Hokage had been standing, suddenly nine figures had appeared, crouched on the railing.

They were wearing black pants, black long-sleeved shirts, and black flak jackets. They all wore red arm and shin bracers, and had black, red and orange capes that fluttered in the breeze like fire. And their masks, instead of being white, were black and painted with the orange face of the Kyuubi.

Half the crowd had started muttering amongst themselves, and the other half were going nuts. Iruka really, really wished he had brought earplugs.

The nine figures surveyed the crowd for a few moments longer, then disappeared again. Iruka looked around, and realized that they were all standing on top of a different roof around the square, looking down at the crowd.

The crowd went nuts again, and Iruka turned back to see that Naruto was now standing by the railing, two of his ANBU flanking him. Behind him to the right, he could spot the long, midnight-blue hair of Hinata. To his left, spiky brown hair identified Kiba.

"I'm surprised he didn't pick two of the shorter members to make himself look taller!" Anko yelled, shouting to be heard over the crowd.

"I hardly think he needs any help looking tall. He practically towers over Tsunade now!" Iruka shouted back.

xxxx

Kiba smirked bemusedly behind his mask. They had been standing here for 20 seconds now, and the crowd was still roaring. The amount of applause and cheering was almost deafening, even from this distance.

Naruto smiled good-naturedly, and finally raised his hand, trying to quiet the crowd.

They didn't want to be quiet, but they shut up for Naruto. Naruto cleared his throat, then activated the jutsu that strengthened his voice. He didn't really understand how the jutsu worked, but it did, and that was all that mattered to Naruto.

**"Thank you!"**

The crowd was about as quiet as it was going to get.

**"Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to be Hokage. At first, it was because I wanted the acknowledgement. Then, it was because I wanted to protect the people precious to me. Now, I think I've realized that it's because it's in my blood."**

The crowd roared. There had never really been an announcement about Naruto's parentage...but things like that had a way of getting out. Especially after the Fourth Shinobi War, when Naruto became an even bigger topic of conversation.

**"Ever since I was made a genin, 6 years ago, I have given my all to protect Konoha and my friends. That's not about to change now."**

**"As Hokage, I promise to protect Konoha to the very best of my ability. That includes protecting it from the old farts that have been running this place for WAY too long." **He grinned cheekily at Tsunade, who rolled her eyes in response.

xxxx

"That's Naruto all right!" Iruka yelled as the crowd laughed.

Anko facepalmed.

Tsunade walked forward again, to stand facing Naruto.

Kakashi absently noted that one of the birds was rapidly descending out of the sky.

**"Well, I don't know about that last part, but, I have named you as my successor, Uzamaki Naruto. Do you accept the position as the Rokudaime Hokage, and all the duties it entails?" **She asked.

**"Hai."**

Tsunade removed a scroll from her sleeve, and a long white coat appeared in her arms.

At the same time, Sasuke was jumping off his hawk summon to land on the roof next to the Hokage's tower, looming over the Hokage. At the same time, another figure rose on the roof opposite.

Kakashi felt a smirk tug at his mouth underneath his mask.

xxxx

Sasuke watched Ryuu make handseals with his Sharingan, matching him seal for seal. He had to make sure they finished the jutsu at the same time, after all.

They inhaled as much air as they could, at the exact moment. Still in sync, they pursed their lips and exhaled as forcefully as possible, giving birth to two identical fiery dragon heads, which were followed by a long, twisting, body.

The dragons ascended, intertwining as they rose, spinning around each other.

"**Then let it be known that from this day forward, Konoha has a new Hokage!"**

Sasuke didn't glance downward; all his attention was focused on his jutsu, forcing the dragon higher and higher.

xxxx

Naruto resisted the urge to glance upwards as thousands of people gasped. He slipped his arms through the coat. It was white, with a high collar, and a low hem that fell to the back of his ankles. It was painted with orange flames along the hem, and the kanji for _The Sixth Hokage _were embroidered on his back in orange, outlined with black.

It looked almost exactly like the one his father had worn, except orange instead of red. It most definitely was not the traditional Kage uniform.

He deactivated his jutsu, and turned to Tsunade. "Thank you." He said, his voice slightly hoarse.

"You're welcome, brat."

xxxx

Iruka followed the intertwining dragons upwards with his eyes, watching in amazement. He had never seen a fire jutsu that impressive in his life, even a collaboration jutsu.

Suddenly, both heads reared back, their heads and necks separating, even as their bodies remained intertwined.

At the same time, both Hokage bowed to each other, then rose. Tsunade disappeared, and Naruto turned again to face the crowd.

The two dragon heads crashed together in a massive explosion, creating the largest firework anyone had ever seen.

Naruto bowed, his image perfectly framed by the expanding fireball above him. Then, he was gone. The Hokage, and his ANBU, had all vanished.

The crowd sat stunned for a moment as the pyrotechnics faded.

Someone started clapping. The sound spread into scattered clapping, then, within the space of a few-seconds, rose into a deafening roar as every person in the audience expressed their approval.

_They may be trained, deadly, killers...but they sure can put on a show. _Kakashi thought with a smirk.

xxxx

Naruto collapsed into the couch, breathing a sigh of relief. Hinata was too anxious to sit, and was pacing by the door to the hallway.

Kiba leaned up against the wall as the rest of the Konoha 13 entered the room. Naruto made sure that Ryuu hadn't sneaked in before he spoke.

"Well, that was fun." Naruto said.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it Hokage-sama, but we need to talk-" Shikamaru started.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't call me Hokage-sama, it sounds weird." Naruto interrupted.

Shino opened his mouth. "That's very illogic-"

"At least when we're alone." Naruto begged. "I've known you all too long, fought beside you too many times."

Shino opened his mouth again.

"You can call me Naruto-sama if you _must." _Naruto said firmly.

Shino closed his mouth.

"Very well, Naruto-sama." Shikamaru continued, while Naruto rolled his eyes. "We need to discuss things like who will be guarding you, when."

"Whoa, whoa wait, what?" Naruto asked, confused.

Shikamaru sighed. "As your personal ANBU, we are also your bodyguards. Surely you knew that."

"I thought that was just for special events and stuff! There's no way I'm letting you tail me all the time!"

Shikamaru sighed. When was Naruto going to grow up?

"All the other Hokage have had bodyguards too, Naruto-sama." Sakura reminded him. "It's part of our duties."

Naruto held up fingers, and started ticking down. "If someone means me harm, I'll sense them coming." He lowered a finger. "I'll have multiple clones around the village; it'll be hard to find the real me without me knowing." He lowered another finger. "And the only way anyone will know it's really me, will be if I have ANBU bodyguards tailing me."

He grinned. "And finally, you're under my direct command, if I recall correctly. Therefore, I command you to drop your bodyguard duties until I tell you otherwise." He smiled triumphantly.

Shikamaru sighed. How troublesome. "Very well, _Naruto-sama." _He ground the last part out, biting on the words. There was no use arguing further, however. Naruto could be as stubborn as a mule.

"What exactly are we going to be doing, then?" Ino asked, slightly exasperated.

"I've already got an assignment for Sasuke and Sai in mind." Naruto grinned. "I'm sure I'll manage to think of something."

He made a familiar handseal, and four clones ran out into the hallway, shutting the door again behind them.

Naruto turned serious for a moment. "For now, follow my clones out, take the afternoon off, prepare for the celebration, whatever. If you don't hear from me tonight, report to the Hokage's Office at 8:00 am tommorow. Sasuke, stay behind for a moment."

The shinobi rose, filing out the door.

"What were the clones for?" Sakura asked curiously.

Naruto smiled. "Rearranging furniture."

Sakura looked at him skeptically for a second, then shrugged, and walked out.

Sasuke leaned against the wall, waiting. Naruto got up, made sure the balcony door and windows were closed, then double checked the soundproofing seals.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Naruto moved to sit down on the couch again, passing a hand over his eyes.

"We've always worked well together, Sasuke. From that time against Zabuza, when we freed Kakashi-sensei, all the way up to the conclusion of the Fourth Shinobi War."

Sasuke raised both eyebrows. No one ever spoke of his involvement in the war. If they celebrated him for his defeat over Kabuto, or for saving the lives of the 5 Kage, they'd have to admit that he left Konoha in the first place.

He was never recognized for finally killing Orochimaru, or for eliminating Deidara. In exchange, his defection from Konoha was turned into a "Leave of Absence" for health reasons. As if he had never left. It was possibly the best deal Sasuke could have ever wished for. Saving the Five Kage had helped a lot with that. Having Naruto as his best friend didn't hurt any, either.

"We are more alike than appearances would imply." Sasuke responded evenly, doing his Shino impersonation.

"Indeed. Except you've not once wanted to become Hokage." Naruto said, raising his eyebrows.

"I had enough time in the spotlight as a kid. That kind of job...isn't meant for me."

Naruto grinned, then sobered. "What do you know about Root?"

"Very little. I've only learned about it since returning to the village. It was led by that scumbag Danzo, right?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "That's more than most people know. Yes, it was led by Danzo, and it was originally the Third's idea. He tried to shut it down when Danzo became too...Uhh...important."

"Dangerous." Sasuke supplied.

Naruto grinned. "Exactly. But it was already too late, and Danzo held Root's loyalty to the man. He retreated into the shadows after that, however, and Root was like smoke- the Third could smell it, but every time he tried to catch it in his hands, it just slipped away."

"Every operation of Root was above an S-class secret. So secretive that Danzo was the only one who could speak of them. All the members had seals on their tongues, seals that prevented them from spilling anything important."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "How...practical."

"Nightmarish." Naruto agreed. "As Hokage, it would be better if I didn't have to stain my image with the more...unpleasant side of protecting a village. I'm sure you heard a little about my run-in with the Kumo ninja a few days ago, even if Baa-chan and the Raikage kept it all hush-hush."

"I've heard a few things." Sasuke smirked.

"How would you like to form a new version of Root?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke was, for once, speechless. He might've been able to guess where this was going...but he hadn't really believed it.

"You would have the power to truly protect the village you love, without all the spotlight."

"How do you know I love this village? How do you know I didn't just come back for you and Sakura?" Sasuke asked, smirking.

"Sasuke." Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "There's a fine line between love and hate, especially when it comes to this village. You and I have walked it our entire lives; I've just never crossed it."

"You've come close to hating the village?" Sasuke asked, slightly surprised.

"I probably would've gone crazy the first time I found out I was holding the Kyuubi. If Iruka-sensei hadn't been there, that is.

The first, and only, time I met my dad, I punched him in the stomach for imprisoning Kurama in me."

Naruto sighed. "All the times the villagers were mean to me, hated me, as a child. It would've been so easy to hate them back." He smiled sadly. "Why do you think I never gave up on you, when you left the village? I knew how you felt, I understood it."

He grinned again. "But then again, I love this village more than anything. I love the view from the top of Dad's head. I love the smell of the streets, I love the ninja, I love the forest. To me, Konoha will always be home."

Sasuke nodded, giving in. "I spent almost 3 years with Orochimaru. Then even more time after that traveling around, hunting my brother, hunting you. Fighting in the war. During that time, I never had a place I could call home." He sighed. "My worst memories are in this town. But my best memories are here, too. You're right; Konoha is my home."

"But I'm not sure I really want to take over _that man's _old position. I'm not sure I would want the job anyway."

"Think about it. You don't have to answer immediately. I'll see you later tonight." Naruto assured him.

"Yeah." Sasuke stood up to leave, and started to walk towards the door.

"Oh, and don't get the wrong idea." Naruto said, before he could open the door. "You'd still be reporting to me."

Sasuke smirked over his shoulder. "As if either of us could do our jobs alone."

Naruto smirked to himself as Sasuke left. Sasuke had just admitted to needing Naruto's help. And Sasuke would accept the job, he was sure of it.

Then he gathered his thoughts, and stood up. He had plans, damn it.

He smiled to himself. It was about time Konoha was introduced to a little more _change. _

**A/N**

That's chapter 4! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Reviews, as always, make my day and give me inspiration to keep going. Or sometimes not so much. But I still like them. Gimme.

~protossfire


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**

I should probably warn you...things get a little steamy up ahead. Not a lemon, or anything like that...but still...you're welcome. :D

I don't know if this warrants rating it M or anything...but still. Maybe rate it upper T? I don't even...

Enjoy! :D

**Chapter 5**

Naruto left his clones to do the paper work. Honestly, he had more important things to be doing. He'd just leave the running of the village to...himself. That couldn't really be deemed irresponsible, could it? Besides, it was much safer this way. For him. Shikamaru would totally buy that reason; he took his job way too seriously anyway.

Naruto snorted. Safety Shmafety. He could take care of himself.

Naruto stopped in the final tree, looking down into the clearing. Sure enough, Hinata was there, in the furthest training ground from the village proper, training.

Naruto grinned to himself. Found her first try.

Hinata was beating the living _shit _out of a training post. Just then, the post was crushed in the middle, her next strike to the top of the post sent the entire upper half flying backwards. The force of the chakra released from her palm sent it flying over 10 feet.

He jumped down from the tree, landing in the ground.

"Hey, Hinata!"

To his surprise, she didn't jump or squeak, but calmly turned to face him. That's when he saw that her Byakugan was on. No wonder she hadn't jumped; she'd seen him coming.

She bowed. "Naruto-sama."

He winced. "Hinata, I absolutely forbid you from calling me anything other than Naruto or Naruto-kun while I'm not wearing my coat."

Hinata opened her mouth.

He didn't let her speak. "Seriously, I won't allow it."

Hinata frowned, then slowly smiled. "Very well, Naruto-kun."

He grinned, that was better. "Training already? I thought I told you to take the day off."

Hinata looked down. "The kidnapping made it clear to me that I am nowhere near as strong as I wish to be."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Hinata was the only one who seemed to think she was still weak. Even her father, who was normally straightforward and blunt, watched his mouth around her these days, wary of provoking her.

"It was eight against one, Hinata. You did amazing, way better than anyone could possibly expect of you." Naruto said.

"Maybe better than others would expect. But I don't believe in realistic expectations for myself...I'm sure you can understand that." Hinata said stubbornly.

Naruto frowned; she had a point. It's not like he'd stopped training, either.

"Well if I can't stop you from training...maybe I can convince you to train me instead."

"T-train you?" Hinata stuttered in surprise. "What could I possibly teach you?" Then she stared in surprise. Was Naruto blushing?

He scratched his neck. "Errr...well... I heard there was going to be a dance tonight at the celebration. And I don't really know how to dance..." He chuckled sheepishly. "I never had a reason to learn, before."

Hinata blushed crimson when she realized what he meant. That he hadn't had a reason before _her. _

"I-I'd love to teach you, Naruto-kun." Hinata hold him, then paused. "I should probably take a shower first though..." She was sure she smelled like sweat and dirt.

"Why don't you just come over to my apartment. You can shower, and then teach me there. And it's much closer than the Hyuuga compound." Naruto said, trying to sound reasonable, while blushing.

Hinata tried very hard not to faint. First he wanted her to teach him how to dance, and then he was inviting her over to his place? Where they would be _alone_? She focused on taking deep breaths.

"O-Okay."

xxxx

Hinata had taken a very hot shower. Hopefully it would excuse the almost permanent blush on her face.

"It's...so clean." She said, looking around his apartment again.

Naruto laughed. "You should have seen it when I was twelve. Place was a total mess. But then I got shadow clones, and suddenly, keeping the place clean got really easy." He didn't mention that he'd had several clean it this very morning, after he got the idea to ask Hinata to teach him to dance.

Hinata smiled hesitantly. Shadow clones could certainly be useful.

Naruto's apartment was small...but it wasn't pitiful either. The walls were decorated with a large collection of pictures; his genin team, Naruto laughing with Ayame and Teuchi at Ichiraku's, the Third Hokage. There was even one of his parents, laughing, their hands on Kushina's very pregnant belly.

There was a rather spacious living room, a small kitchen, one bedroom and one bath. Windows covered one of the walls of the living room, rewarding the room with an abundance of sunlight, which naturally made the place feel warmer, happier.

One thing had changed however; Hinata noticed that all of Naruto's furniture in the living room had disappeared. When she asked him about it, he pointed to the kitchen counter, where four scrolls lay on the tabletop.

"I sealed them up, to give us more room." He said, scratching his neck.

"Oh. Perfect." She said.

She moved towards him.

Naruto was starting to look really nervous. "I-I've never done anything like this before, so I'll probably be really horrible and..."

He stopped as Hinata placed her pointer finger on his lips. "You'll do great." She told him, looking into his eyes to assure him.

Prompted by some unknown instinct, Naruto kissed her finger.

Hinata jumped back, as if burned.

"Sorry." He said quickly. His heart dropped. Why did he always have to mess thing up?

"No, it's okay." Hinata told him, moving closer again, smiling slightly.

Blushing, she put her left hand on his shoulder. She held out her right hand, and he took it in his left, blushing as he did so. He put his other hand on her waist, and Hinata was slightly relieved. At least he knew that much.

Naruto looked at her again, blue eyes nervous.

"Just relax, and do what I do. We'll start easy, and you'll be a natural, I promise."

Slowly, they started to dance, Hinata gently pulling him back. Then she pulled him right, then pushed him forwards, then back left to where they started.

Hinata was unable to keep the smile off her face as they danced. Her finger still burned, and she could swear that she could still feel his lips against her skin.

xxxx

"Well... I guess I'll see you later." Naruto said, leaning against the door.

"Yeah." Hinata said, tucking a slightly sweaty strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you, by the way. For teaching me."

"Don't mention it. I..I enjoyed myself." Hinata said, standing awkwardly outside his door.

"Me too. Well...bye."

"Bye." Hinata said, turning and walking off.

Gods, but she didn't want to leave. She really did have a few errands to run, then she had to eat dinner, then she had to get dressed, so she really did have to go. But she hadn't wanted to leave. Not when being with Naruto made her so happy, gave her an emotional high, a high she couldn't get anywhere else.

Naruto frowned too, and didn't close the door till she was around the corner.

A few memories from a shadow clone filtered into his thoughts, and his frown deepened. He made a couple shadow clones, which promptly exited through his open window.

xxxx

Naruto checked his reflection one last time in the mirror. He was wearing a black dress shirt, black dress pants, a black belt, and his Hokage coat. He ran a hand through his hair, then tried to decide if it looked any better afterwards. Then he shrugged. _Oh well, at least my tie is cool. _It was diagonally striped black, silver, and a blue that made his eyes really stand out in the mirror.

He thought he looked pretty damn good, but then again, what did he know?

He grabbed his keys, shoving them in his pocket, and had to mentally restrain himself from reaching back for his kunai pouch. It felt so weird, leaving his house without the thing. But whatever.

He walked purposefully out his door, listening for the door to close. When it slammed shut, he took a deep breath, and forced himself into action.

Hopefully he could catch Hinata still at her house.

xxxx

Hinata stared at herself in the mirror, butterflies churning in her stomach. She didn't look perfect... but she looked okay. It would have to do, because she really needed to leave. But she couldn't seem to lift her feet from where they were glued to the floor.

It was true that when she was with Naruto, she never wanted to leave. But it was also true that she was still nervous around him, and now she was quite scared of his reaction. She didn't usually dress like this, and in her dress she felt...vulnerable. If Naruto had anything less than the perfect reaction...she would probably fall to pieces.

So she couldn't seem to make herself move.

Just then, Hanabi burst into her room, wearing a backless red dress that looped around her neck.

"Come on Sis-" She broke off, staring at Hinata.

Hinata was wearing a shimmering violet dress that looked like silk. It clung to her body, outlining every curve and every smooth muscle. It ended above her knees, since Hinata didn't think she could keep from feinting in anything shorter.

"Oh my god, Sis. You look drop-dead _gorgeous!_" She exclaimed. "Are you trying to give Naruto-sensei a heart attack?"

Hinata was about to respond, but Hanabi cut her off. "Well, it doesn't matter, we need to go!" She said, grabbing Hinata's arm and dragging her out the door, ignoring Hinata's weak protest.

xxxx

"S-slow down!" Hinata giggled for the third time, as Hanabi pulled her through the corridor.

Hinata wasn't nearly as graceful in heels as she normally was. If Hanabi kept up this speed they'd probably both crash into a wall. Although, as the butterflies vanished from her stomach, Hinata found herself not caring as much as she probably should.

Hanabi dragged her out of the compound, with a brief, and very informal, "Hey!" to the guard at the gate.

Hinata noticed three guys leaning against the wall, and she and Hanabi tottered to a halt. Hinata stared for a moment, before a wall of Hanabi's silky hair obscured her vision.

"God, we Hyuuga girls are _so_ lucky!" Hanabi whispered in her ear, covering it with her hand to make sure Naruto and Ken didn't hear. "How'd I manage to get in a team with the two hottest chunin in Konoha?"

Hanabi whirled back around, and left her sister in the dust as she went to join her teammates.

Ken and Ryuu leaned off the wall, moving to join her as she walked past, ignoring Naruto-sensei, who probably wouldn't have noticed her anyway.

The two Chunin appeared to have picked up some of their Sensei's tastes; both of them were wearing all black. Ken's tie was a deep red that perfectly matched Hanabi's dress, which made her smile. It looked good on him too; made him look more confident, more _there. _Ryuu was wearing a dark green and silver tie, that made his deep green eyes jump out at her in a way that almost made her stumble.

Hanabi noticed as they drew up beside her that their dress pants and shoes looked almost identical. She spent a brief moment to wonder if they had gone shopping _together. _For some reason, that image made her blush, and she wished she could have been there to see that. Either to laugh her ass off, or to rush to the bathroom for paper towels to stop her nosebleed.

She reached up slightly to put an arm around each of their shoulders, once again thanking her luck for the best team a girl could ask for.

She smiled widely. "Shall we?"

xxxx

Naruto didn't seem to be able to move. On the porch of the house to the side of the street, several lanterns swayed lightly in the breeze. The light from the lanterns cast across Hinata's dress, making it shimmer even more than normal.

Naruto found himself completely mesmerized as she walked forward slowly, the slow roll of her hips drawing his eyes and keeping them there.

An idle part of his mind noted that this would be the perfect time for an assassination. Or maybe it was just the Kyuubi.

She smiled slightly, and Naruto was shocked back into awareness in time to realize that she had walked up to him, where he had yet to leave the wall.

He cleared his throat, feeling as if his heart was in his throat. He leaned forward off the wall to take the couple steps that put him right in front of her.

Hinata tried not to faint as he neared her, unable to keep her eyes off him. His tie made his eyes stand out in a way that she couldn't believe, and she couldn't stop herself from staring into them.

"You look...amazing." He told her, his voice slightly hoarse in a way that made her shiver. He _wanted _her, and she knew it.

Unable to stop himself, Naruto lightly took her hand in his, bringing it up to his mouth to plant a kiss on the back of her hand. Feeling slightly more in control, he brought it back down to his side, and forced himself to turn away.

Hinata's heart swelled in her chest, the back of her hand on fire.

He cleared his throat again. "Shall we?" He asked, his voice more normal, flashing a quick grin in her direction.

"Definitely." She told him, feeling as light on her feet as she always did around Naruto. She smiled at him, and they began to walk, hand in hand.

xxxx

It was a large building, a huge open space, with hardwood floors. Several large round tables were gathered near the entrance, with a bar on the left side. On the right, several tables had been stood up, loaded with punch and food of all kinds.

Behind the tables there was a large open area, behind which there was a small stage, where the band was setting up. On either side of the stage, hallways led towards respective restrooms, and presumably had emergency exits.

Naruto's shinobi training had him mapping out the entire building in less than a couple seconds.

Conversation slowly dwindled down as people realized that the Hokage had entered, and was staring at the crowd.

Naruto's first thought was that this was supposed to be a party for people he _knew_.

Then, as he looked around, he realized that he _did_ know everyone there.

In a corner at the back, Gaara was standing with his two students in front of him. Off to the side, Temari and Kankuro stood, talking to Baki. Naruto noticed idly that Kankuro wasn't wearing his normal makeup, just black kohl around his eyes.

Off to the side, at the bar, Tsunade and Shizune sat next to Sakura and Ino, Tsunade already tossing back sake.

Sasuke and Sai sat in the corner with Juugo, discussing something quietly. Naruto could guess what they were talking about.

The rest of the Konoha 13 sat at a round table, now looking at Naruto.

Naruto's chunin and Hinata's genin sat at a nearby table, probably discussing how insane Lee was.

Speaking of Lee, his sensei was sitting across from Kakashi, challenging the scarecrow to a blackjack competition.

Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi stood to the side, and Akatsuchi appeared to already be eating from the bar. Kurotsuchi was scowling, appearing to be a split second away from pulverizing something.

The young swordsman from the mist, whose name Naruto couldn't remember, was talking to Suigetsu, while Karin stood awkwardly beside him.

To his immediate left, Darui stood, chewing on a senbon, talking to Genma and Iruka.

Scattered throughout the rest of the room were various other Konoha and allied shinobi who Naruto had gotten to know well in recent years.

_Damn._ He had forgotten how popular he was.

The conversation had mostly ceased, and people were started to bow to him.

He held up a hand, "Stop! Stop that!" He let go of Hinata's hand, the immediate flash of disappointment making him grin as he took off his coat, tossing it over a chair next to Kiba.

"You must not know me very well." He told the room. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I don't care much for formalities. Let's start the party already!"

The assembled shinobi laughed and cheered, and the musicians stroke up a song, immediately causing Naruto to start bobbing his head with the music.

He stretched his hand out to Hinata. "Wanna dance?" He asked, grinning, completely disregarding the fact that most of the room was still looking at them.

She blushed and took his hand, and Naruto led her out onto the dance floor.

xxxx

"This is such a drag." Ino said.

Chouji wondered idly if she realized she was using one of Shikamaru's favorite sayings.

"Neither Naruto nor Hinata have said anything to us this entire time." She complained, watching them dance, smiles on their faces.

Sakura had her eyes on the corner where Sasuke was still in deep discussion. "They haven't said much to anyone else either, so don't feel too slighted." She wanted to walk over, and sit next to Sasuke, to talk with him. But something in the intensity of his gaze told her it wasn't the right time.

"Who even knew Naruto could dance?" Ino asked.

"Honestly, nothing Naruto does could surprise me anymore." Sakura said, her eyes flashing briefly to where Naruto was spinning Hinata in a circle.

"_And _I don't even get to dance." Ino said crossly, flicking her gaze at Kiba, then folding her arms over her chest.

"Oh, shut up. It's not like any of us are dancing either." Sakura said, exasperated.

Chouji watched, a smirk on his face, as Sakura got up to get some space. Ino's dramatics used to irritate him, but over time it had just become amusing.

xxxx

Hinata felt like she was the inexperienced dancer, now. Naruto was, as she had expected, a natural. And he improvised, a huge smile on his face, not caring if he didn't really know what he was doing. He just moved with the music, forcing Hinata to go along with him.

And she was having trouble concentrating. She had thought he had looked good earlier, but when he took his coat off it had gotten even better. A few of his golden locks were framed perfectly against his black collar, and more than anything she wanted to run her hands through them.

"I...I meant...to tell you...earlier." She gasped, still dancing. She swallowed, "You...you look amazing too."

Naruto's grin grew to a full-blown smile right as the music sped up. They danced faster and faster, Naruto spinning them around as the song built towards its climax.

Hinata was starting to get dizzy when the song finally ended on a single resounding note, and Naruto picked her up and spun her around, causing her to blush and giggle. And then, because she was so happy, she leaned down and put her hands on his face and kissed him.

The shock of the heat of his mouth on hers brought her out of her daze, and she drew back to apologize, but Naruto silenced her by closing his mouth over hers again.

Hinata was shocked at first, but then she kissed back, sliding her hands around to the back of his neck, sliding her hands through the hair on the back of his neck like she had wanted to all night. She moaned slightly, and wrapped her legs around his lower back, pulling him closer, angling her face to deepen the kiss even better.

Naruto slid his hands down to underneath her thighs, in order to hold her better, and Hinata moaned as his hands slid across her body.

Naruto felt as if his whole body was vibrating. When Hinata moaned softly against his mouth, it drove him crazy. He wanted to drop her on the floor and kiss her again and again and then...he didn't know what. Well, he did know, but it's not like they could do that here. Or anywhere really. Unless she wanted him to...and then even if she wanted him to..

He broke those dangerous thoughts off, and decided to end the kiss before he did something stupid. They were in the middle of a crowded room, anyway. Hinata moaned softly in disappointment as he drew his head back, but she didn't follow.

He set her down gently, and she slowly met his eyes, her eyes slowly focusing, a slight blush on her cheeks. Suddenly she seemed to realize what they had been doing, and where they were, and she blushed even deeper, jumping forward to bury her head in his chest.

Naruto laughed, staggering backwards. She mumbled something into his chest.

"What was that?" He asked, blushing slightly, wrapping his arms gently around her.

"Are they staring at us?" She repeated, muffled. Naruto's keen hearing could barely make out the words.

He looked up, and saw that, in fact, half the room was staring at them.

"Nah. They're too busy grinding on each other." He told her, laughing gently.

"Liar." She mumbled.

"Wanna go get some punch?" Naruto asked.

She nodded against his chest, and pulled back. He took her hand and led her over to the punch bowl, well aware that she stared at the floor the entire way, a deep blush on her cheeks.

xxxx

Naruto rolled up his sleeves, aware of a presence approaching behind him.

"Hey, Sasuke." He said, turning around from where he'd been standing with Hinata.

"Yo." Sasuke said, his eyes dark. "I'll take the job."

"I knew you would." Naruto said warmly. "Come to my office tommorow morning. 7 am. Bring Sai."

Sasuke gave a sharp, short nod, and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Sasuke turned around slightly. "I know I've given you a lot to think about...but you should ask Sakura to dance."

Sasuke opened his mouth to tell Naruto that he didn't need dating advice, especially from Naruto, but the blonde interrupted him. "Before she kills you." He clarified.

Sasuke closed his mouth. Then opened it again. Then smiled. "Perhaps I should." He walked away.

xxxx

Ino sighed loudly. She cut her eyes over to where Kiba was sitting, apparently determined not to look at her. Chouji was still sitting across from her, still eating with his steady pace.

"I wish someone would ask me to dance." She said, staring purposefully at Kiba. Honestly, if he didn't get the hint soon... she didn't know what she'd do. _Find someone else to dance with I guess... _

Kiba scowled, turning to look at her. "Look, I don't know how to dance, okay?" He said, his neck red, turning back around to pet Akamaru, who whined.

Ino sighed again. "I mean, even Shikamaru's dancing...with that Sand chick. I bet you Shikamaru doesn't know how to dance either..." She said to Chouji.

"I don't want to hear anything else about Shikamaru." Kiba said coldly, still not looking at her.

Ino smirked. Jealous much? She got up slowly, stealthily, using her kunoichi training to keep from making even the slightest noise. She crept up to him slowly, being sure not to make any sound over the music.

Kiba smirked, his head turned away from her. Did she think she was being sneaky? Even if he couldn't hear her, he would always be able to smell her. And her strong scent was unmistakably drawing near.

Ino was always easy to smell. She smelled like her family's flower shop; a mix of different flowers that made him want to breathe deeply like he was taking a breath before diving into a lake.

But he didn't; he didn't want to let her know that he knew she was sneaking up on him. If she tried to scare him or something, the joke would be on her.

Ino leaned down behind him carefully, until her mouth was right next to his ear.

"I know you can't resist me, Kiba." She whispered softly into his ear.

Kiba, while drunk, had once made the mistake of telling them all that out of all of them, Ino smelled the best.

Kiba shivered, Ino's warm breath tickling his ear. Akamaru's tail was wagging furiously on the floor; giving Ino the courage to do what she did next.

She grabbed his chair, and spun it around, to make him face her. She leaned across him, to whisper in his other ear.

Kiba stayed frozen as Ino's neck and collarbone were exposed to him, dragging across his vision. Ino's scent washed over him, and suddenly he couldn't resist anymore. His head darted forward, and he buried a kiss on Ino's collarbone, making sure not to expose his fangs, and inhaled deeply.

Ino moaned softly as his hot lips pressed on her collarbone, sending shivers down her body. Her legs were starting to give out, so she collapsed on to Kiba's lap, straddling him, forgetting all about what she had been about to whisper.

He brought his head up, and she bent hers forward to meet him in a fiery kiss. Ino parted his lips with her tongue, sliding it inside his mouth to curl curiously around one of his long fangs.

Kiba moaned huskily against her mouth, and the sound made Ino press even closer, as close as she could possibly get.

Suddenly, the chair tilted, and Ino withdrew her face quickly as the chair fell over backwards. By some miracle, she managed to keep from cracking their skulls together. She stayed on the ground, frozen for a second, with Kiba underneath her until a sound startled her.

Apparently Chouji had choked on something, and was now coughing furiously. Kiba started laughing underneath her, his chest vibrating against hers, and she found herself joining in until they had both ran out of laughter. Still smiling, she kicked the chair away from them, before crawling forward slightly to plant another, less passionate, kiss on Kiba's lips.

She grabbed his hand, and stood, dragging him to his feet.

"Come on, dog boy, we're dancing." She ordered.

Kiba, by some miracle, didn't even protest, allowing himself to be led out onto the floor.

Chouji sat in his seat, absolutely dumbfounded. Did he know a single _normal _person? He shrugged, and got up for more barbecue.

xxxx

No sooner had Sasuke walked away than Naruto felt an even stronger presence approaching.

"Hey, Gaara." He said.

"Naruto." The redhead replied evenly. "Congratulations on finally achieving your dream." His mouth twitched upwards slightly, in what amounted to a smile from Gaara. "I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise." Naruto grinned.

"Normally the Kage do not enter another village unless they receive an invitation. I would therefore like to extend a permanent invitation. While I am Kazekage, you will always be welcome in Suna, whatever the reason."

Naruto smiled. "Thank you. I'd like to offer you a similar invitation. You will always be welcome in Konoha...but if you could warn me before you pop in that would be nice. And I will try to do the same for you."

Gaara's mouth twitched again, then he bowed slightly. "Thank you. Congratulations again, Naruto."

"Thanks."

Gaara walked away, and as someone else approached, Naruto leaned over to whisper in Hinata's ear.

"If everyone in this room comes to congratulate me, this is going to be a seriously long night."

Hinata smiled.

xxxx

"Thanks for your patience, Hinata. I know that was exhausting." Naruto said, holding the door open for her.

Finally, the long line of people waiting to talk to him had ended, and they had managed to escape.

"No...I enjoyed it." Hinata told him.

Naruto laughed. "Well _I_ thought it was exhausting." He took her hand, and started walking beside her.

Hinata tried to hide her happiness, but she couldn't keep the small smile off her face.

Almost against her will, her mouth moved, "You don't have to walk me home, Naruto-sama."

Naruto scowled at her, and she felt the need to point out that he was, in fact, wearing his coat.

"Fine. I forbid you from calling me Naruto-sama when we're alone, as well." Naruto said.

Hinata smiled slightly, and she bumped him with their clasped hands.

"I know I don't _have _to walk you home." Naruto told her, slightly disgruntled. "But I _want _to, okay?"

A full smile bloomed across her face, "Okay." She said, laughing slightly.

Before she even knew what had happened, they had arrived at the Hyuuga compound. Hinata turned to Naruto, and before he could react, she leaned up and kissed him.

She drew back, but Naruto followed again, this time pressing her against him, trapping her in a deeper kiss.

The guard at the gate cleared his throat, and the two separated, Hinata laughing softly.

"I'll see you tommorow, Naruto-kun." She told him, and retreated, turning back to wave at him after entering the gates.

Then she was gone, and Naruto was left staring after her in the road.

He shook his head, clearing his mind, and dashed back to his apartment. Then he took a long, hot shower, trying to clear the memory of her lips on his from his mind.

He needed his sleep, after all. Tommorow was just around the corner, and he needed as much sleep as possible.

Tommorow was going to be a hell of a day, he could already tell.

**A/N**

Man, that was so fun to write. I felt like Jiraiya, giggling like a little girl while I wrote the chapter.

Is it just me, or do Kiba and Ino make a hilarious couple? I randomly became a fan of that pairing while writing the last chapter, when I just randomly realized:

Hey! Kiba and Ino would make a perfect couple!

From there it was history.

I have full, unconditional love for people who write me reviews. Not that I'm hinting at anything.

~protossfire


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